Intertwinedfuture

China and Africa’s opportunities and challenges in 2017 have meaningful significance

THE year 2016 marks the first year of implementation of the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in December 2015. It also heralds a year of significant progress by the Chinese Government in pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative. The Sino-african relationship has flourished with close high-level exchanges, deeper political mutual trust, and fruitful economic cooperation on industrial capacity and connectivity. In 2017, China-africa relations will face both opportunities and challenges. and connectivity. The Sino-african industrial capacity cooperation, which conforms to the bilateral needs of development, has solid foundation. China’s economic development has seen remarkable achievements since the country adopted reform and opening-up policies over three decades ago.

China, in the middle and later stages of industrialization, faces challenges in further addressing excess capacity issues, while many African countries, with their lower industrialization levels, need to increase their industrial capacity for further development. Africa has abundant human and natural resources, while China possesses more capital resources and advanced equipment, technology and management expertise. These provide sound conditions for China-africa industrial alignment and capacity cooperation.

At the opening ceremony of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would roll out 10 major plans to boost cooperation with Africa in the next three years. To ensure smooth implementation, China will provide $60 billion in funding. The key is to boost interconnectivity within the continent and that between China and Africa by aligning China’s industrial upgrading with Africa’s industrialization and Chinaproposed Belt