Booming trade and people-to-people ties
personnel, and government offcials and technicians.
On their part, African leaders stated that China is an indispensable and important partner for Africa to achieve modernisation, and welcomed with appreciation the three measures proposed by President Xi. They expressed their full support to the BRI, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilisation Initiative and their willingness to continue promoting the development of the FOCAC mechanism.
The dialogue adopted and issued a joint statement, which, along with the above-mentioned initiative and plans issued by China following the dialogue, outlined a new blueprint for solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa, injecting new impetus into the development of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Africa.
In the field of international cooperation, China has consistently supported expanding the representation and voice of developing countries, including African countries, in multilateral mechanisms.
In August 2023, the BRICS Summit held in South Africa achieved the first large-scale expansion in the history of the BRICS mechanism. Among the first countries invited to join the grouping were two important North African and Horn of Africa countries, Egypt and Ethiopia. This expansion is a clear indication that this cooperation mechanism, representing a large number of emerging market countries and developing countries, now includes more African voices.
On 21 November 2023, as the host country of the 15th BRICS Summit, South Africa chaired a video summit on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the first BRICS video summit after the expansion. This meeting came at a crucial moment after the escalation of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict on 7 October 2023, conveying a strong BRICS voice to the international community and providing an important platform for communication and coordination on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
In 2024, the African continent will host the third South Summit and the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement. China will continue to firmly support Africa in enhancing its representation and playing an important role in international affiairs.
Africa, as an important participant of the BRI, has achieved fruitful results in the past decade since the
African leaders stated that China is an indispensable and important partner for Africa to achieve modernisation, and welcomed with appreciation the three measures proposed by President Xi.
launch of the initiative in 2013, with China-Africa economic ties becoming increasingly close, and the scale of trade continuously expanding. African countries actively participated in the third CAETE. According to the China-Africa Economic and Trade Relationship Report 2023 released on the opening day of the third CAETE, China-Africa trade of goods further increased to $282 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 10.9 percent. Among them, China’s exports to Africa amounted to $164.49 billion, and imports from Africa were $117.51 billion. All of these three figures are historic highs.
So far, China has signed memoranda of understanding for cooperation on the BRI with 52 African countries. Over the past decade, 10,000 km of standard-gauge railways, 100,000 km of roads, 100 newly built or renovated ports, as well as numerous schools and hospitals, have been put into operation. These projects demonstrate President Xi’s statement in his keynote speech at the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue in August 2023 that China will walk side by side with Africa on the path to modernisation.
At the third BRF held in October 2023, President Xi announced eight major steps to support BRI cooperation, including promoting both signature projects and “small yet smart” livelihood programmes. The specific goals include carrying out 1,000 small-scale livelihood assistance projects, providing 100,000 training opportunities for partner countries by 2030, and increasing the number of joint laboratories built with other parties to 100 in the next five years. It can be expected that these tangible cooperation projects will provide a new impetus to drive economic recovery and improve people’s living standards in African countries in the post-pandemic era.
In terms of mutual learning between civilisations and people-to-people exchanges, activities such as the second Conference on Dialogue Between Chinese and African Civilisations and the tourism promotion conference themed Here is Africa promoted mutual understanding between the peoples of China and Africa.
The second Conference on Dialogue Between Chinese and African Civilisations was held by the China-Africa Institute in May 2023. With the theme of Chinese Modernisation and Africa’s Development Path, the event aims to strengthen exchange of modernisation
In terms of mutual learning between civilisations and people-to-people exchanges, activities such as the second Conference on Dialogue Between Chinese and African Civilisations and the tourism promotion conference themed Here is Africa promoted mutual understanding between the peoples of China and Africa.
and development paths in China and Africa and promote mutual learning between Chinese and African civilisations. Participants agreed that in order to address common challenges and move towards a better future, China and Africa not only require economic and technological strength, but also cultural and civilisational strength.
The conference was attended by around 100 African scholars from countries such as Cameroon, Kenya and Egypt as well as representatives from the AU, embassies of African countries in China, and Chinese experts, scholars, and media. The pictures of the live broadcast were viewed by more than 8,800 people.
In the two years after the eighth FOCAC Ministerial Conference held in Senegal in November 2021, ChinaAfrica cooperation saw the establishment of 16 Luban Workshops in Africa. Partnerships were forged between 26 pairs of Chinese and African universities, and 12,600 young African talents were trained by China.
With the restoration of flights after the pandemic, African students have returned to Chinese campuses, and Chinese tourists have been received in African countries. Major African tourism countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Egypt have launched preferential policies regarding flights and visa facilitation to attract Chinese tourists.
In sum, the enthusiasm for people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa is increasing, and exchanges between Chinese and African universities, think tanks, media, youth, women and other parties are resuming and advancing. In 2024, China will host the ninth FOCAC meeting. Both China and Africa are confident as well as determined to make this meeting a grand event of solidarity, friendship and victory, setting a new milestone for the development of China-Africa relations.