On December 13, Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin publishes an signature article titled Twenty Years of a Shared Journey Toward Greater Success- Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation for the China Focus Column on Sudanese Voice. The full text is as follows:
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the launching of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Over the two decades, FOCAC has traveled an extraordinary journey and forged ahead despite challenges. During the two-decade period, FOCAC always represents the collective dream of China and Africa, embodies the shared aspiration of Chinese and African peoples and functions to make China-Africa friendship and cooperation deeply-rooted in the hearts of both peoples.
A Two-decade Journey of Rapid Growth
In 2000, China and African countries decided to initiate FOCAC, leading China-Africa cooperation into a new era. Holding high the banner of South-South cooperation since its launching, FOCAC has kept pace with the times and kept the mind open, displaying strong vitality.
Over the past 20 years, seven ministerial conferences of FOCAC including the third, sixth and seventh ones held in the form of a summit, have been successfully convened, at which China and Africa have jointly released one programme, six declarations as well as six action plans. Over the past 20 years, FOCAC has grown bigger in size, with more countries joining in the FOCAC family. When FOCAC was inaugurated twenty years ago, eight African countries had yet to establish or resume diplomatic relations with China. To date, there are 55 member countries of FOCAC, among them 53 African countries that have established diplomatic ties with China and the African Union Commission besides China. Over the past 20 years, China-Africa cooperation has continued to expand, as FOCAC has established itself as the most significant mechanism for multi-level exchanges and cooperation on politics, economy, culture, security and other fields between the governments and social sectors of the two sides. An array of thematic forums including Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, China-Africa People’s Forum and Africa-China Young Leaders Forum, have been set up one after another under the FOCAC mechanism.
FOCAC functions as a multilateral mechanism for collective dialogue between China and African countries and also a key international public good jointly developed by the two sides. More importantly, it is a perfect model for building a community with a shared future for mankind. Guided by FOCAC, China-Africa relations have achieved leapfrog development, providing a fine example for multilateralism and mutually beneficial cooperation and also valuable institutional-level experience for cooperation by the international community with Africa.
A Two-decade Journey of Productive Cooperation for the Common Good
China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future and common interests. As China forges ahead with its “Two Centenary” goals and the Chinese dream, Africa is working hard toward its Agenda 2063 and the African Dream. Through a twenty-year shared journey of FOCAC, China and Africa, bound by their long-range vision and dreams, form a community featuring mutual help with each other’s dream.
Political mutual trust between China and Africa has been cemented. Unlike the hegemonistic West, China has no history of colonizing others and never interferes with domestic affairs of other countries. It advocates and observes the principle of equal consultation in its cooperation with Africa, setting a fine example for cooperation by the international community with Africa. Over the past 20 years, China and African countries have maintained frequent exchanges of high-level visits and seen China-Africa relations experience a historic leap from “a new type of partnership” in 2000 to “a new type of strategic partnership” in 2006 and to “a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership” in 2015. At the Beijing Summit held in 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building a China-Africa community with a shared future, strategically charting the course for the development of China-Africa relations. China and African countries have always supported each other in international and regional affairs. China backs African countries in seeking self-reliance and opposes interference of external forces in their internal affairs. The African side adheres to the One-China principle and always stands together with China on issues concerning China’s core interests like issues related to Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, South China Sea and human rights. Both sides make full use of FOCAC as an instrument to strengthen dialogue and consultation, to cement friendship and mutual trust, to have China-Africa cooperation grow from strength to strength and to promote deeper exchanges of experience in state governance and development.
Mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa has boomed. Unlike the interest-first West that upholds zero-sum mentality, China never points fingers at others and never attaches any political strings to cooperation. It upholds common interests while putting friendship first in its cooperation with Africa, providing a new model for win-win cooperation among developing countries. Over the past 20 years, trade between China and Africa trade grew year after year from US$10 billion in 2000 to US$208.7 in 2019. China remains the largest trading partner of Africa for 11 years in a row. Chinese FDI in Africa totaled more than US$300 billion, and loans offered by China to Africa added up to over US$150 billion. More than 3,700 Chinese companies that invest and start businesses in African countries help stimulate the development of the industrial economy of host countries. As to infrastructure, infrastructure projects undertaken by China, ranging from the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway hailed as the road to prosperity to building blocks for the African Union that symbolize friendship in the new era, and from highways, railways, airports and ports that pave the way for independent and sustainable development of African countries to rural water wells, satellite antennas, hospitals, schools and stadiums that are built to address actual difficulties in life faced by the locals and their basic needs, can be found across the African continent. These infrastructures facilitate industrialization in Africa. Studies conducted by African scholars show that Africa’s average economic growth of over 5.5% from the turn of the century onward is due in part to China’s contributions. Since the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, the Economist magazine has changed its tune on Africa, describing it as a rising but not a hopeless continent.
People-to-people exchanges between China and Africa have been expanded in all aspects. Unlike the superior West that touts the superiority of certain civilizations, China never treats others in a biased or brash manner and never exports its ideology. It adheres to mutual respect and understanding and follow the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith in its interactions with Africa, opening a new chapter of sincere friendship and mutual learning. Over the past 20 years, China and Africa have carried out all-round cooperation in culture, education, journalism and other domains. The increasingly frequent exchanges between women, youth, non-government organizations and academicians, and a series of successful events and programs including China-Africa Youth Festival, China-Africa Think Tanks Forum, China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program, China-Africa high-level dialogue on poverty reduction and common development and China Africa Press Center Program, are playing a greater role as bridges of mutual understanding between Chinese and African peoples, and enhance public support for long-term development of China-Africa relations. To date, China has established cultural centers in six African countries including Mauritius and Egypt and opened 61 Confucius Institutes and 44 Confucius Classrooms in 46 African countries. China has provided government scholarships to about 120,000 persons in African countries. Tens of thousands of African friends attend short-term training classes in China every year, while 34 African countries have been the popular destinations for outbound Chinese tourist groups.
The well-being of Chinese and African peoples has been constantly improved. Unlike the untrustworthy West that rarely live up to their commitments, China never makes empty promises and never shows didactic beneficence. It works together with the African side to enhance people’s sense of gain, embracing a new era of mutual understanding and shared prosperity. Over the past 20 years, China-Africa cooperation has delivered tangible benefits to African countries. China has built 170 schools, more than 130 medical facilities and 45 stadiums in Africa, and sent to Africa a total of 21,000 medical workers who have provided treatment to 220 million local patients. Chinese enterprises dedicated to business operations in Africa have sprung up like mushrooms, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for the locals. Tecno Mobile, StarTimes, Hisense TV and Huawei telecom equipment have earned their reputation as four prominent super brands on the African continent. Meanwhile, Egyptian rugs, Ghana’s cocoa beans, Kenyan black tea, South African red wines, and sapphires from Tanzania have entered Chinese households, gaining increasing popularity among Chinese consumers.
The past twenty years have been a prominent journey despite hardships. FOCAC proves to the world that China-Africa cooperation rises over the old thinking of ideological lines and the outdated zero-sum mentality and winner-takes-all approach, and has blazed a trail of win-win cooperation and shared development. China-Africa cooperation sets a perfect example for pursuing contemporary development based on traditional friendship, and more importantly, is a harmonious integration of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and the African dream of unity and revitalization.
Set Sail for a Bright Future of Shared Development
At present, humanity is faced with many common challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging in many places across the globe. At this difficult time when the global pandemic is compounding the once-in-a-century changes upfolding in the world and new risks have become interwoven with existing issues, no country could stand aloof and be immune from their impacts. Unity and cooperation is the only viable choice to mitigate risks and address challenges.
In the face of new situations, difficulties and challenges, the Chinese and African sides should have the foresight to deal with future uncertainty, and continue upholding the development philosophy of win-win results under the Belt and Road Initiative. With the aim of providing new impetus to and enhancing the capacity of African countries for independent and sustainable development, both sides should join hands to deepen and strengthen all-round cooperation.
-- Improve the FOCAC mechanism and achieve higher-quality and more efficient cooperation. Against the backdrop of the complex and fluid international landscape and the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, it is imperative for both sides to continue upholding multilateralism, defending international fairness and justice, building consensus on cooperation, and coordinating the actions. China and Africa need to jointly promote institution-building and constantly enrich and improve the FOCAC mechanism, so as to give full play to the leading role of FOCAC in China-Africa relations. Furthermore, it is of significance to enhance governance capacity and explore new ideas, ways and methods in favor of the advancement of FOCAC.
-- Coordinate strategic planning and enhance top-level design. China and Africa need to continue to support and cooperate with each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns and to constantly strengthen political mutual trust. While attaching high importance to high-quality and sustainable synergy between China’s and Africa’s development plans, both sides need to devise medium-to-long term strategies for China-Africa cooperation and continue to synergize AU’s Agenda 2063 with the Belt and Road Initiative and FOCAC action plans, in a bid to create a paradigm of high-quality development by complementing each other with the own advantages and thus make the economy less fragile and more resilient in the face of various challenges. The two sides need to pursue common development through stepping up cooperation on containing COVID-19, stabilizing the economy and guaranteeing the livelihoods and striking a balance between the short-term relief and the long-term pursuit of shared interests.
-- Propel practical cooperation and optimize sustainable development. Through consolidating the current growth momentum, exploring new growth drivers and finding new highlights of cooperation, China and African countries will create greater space and potential in China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. As China pushes for a new paradigm of development with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, both sides need to enhance cooperation on public health, infrastructure, agricultural production, digital economy, green energy and marine economy. Remaining market-oriented, both sides should exploit China’s advantages and Africa’s abundant resources to develop the resource-based specialty industries in Africa. This will help African countries get integrated into the global supply and industry chains, upgrade African integration, and increase their capacity of independent development, which could underpin Africa’s sustainable economic growth in the post-COVID era.
-- Boost people-to-people exchanges to consolidate the foundation for China-Africa friendship. With a profound traditional friendship, China and Africa are good friends and brothers that share weal and woe. The two sides have looked out for each other and joined hands to overcome challenges, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola outbreak and after the devastating earthquake hit Wenchuan in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Our solidarity against difficulties enables us to forge closer historic ties and illustrates the profound meanings of the China-Africa community with a shared future. Both Chinese and African civilizations have a long history and enjoy its own distinct heritages. Guided by the principles of respecting each other’s cultural characteristics and promoting the co-existence of and mutual learning between civilizations, the two sides need to continue to expand exchanges and cooperation on education, culture and youth, tell true stories about China and about Africa, and make China-Africa friendship deeply rooted in people’s hearts from generation to generation.
As a Chinese poem goes, “with the rising tide and favorable wind, it is time to sail the ship and ride the waves. Standing at a new historical starting point, FOCAC will certainly pool more strengths, unleash stronger momentum and benefit a larger group of people. Though China and the African continent are thousands of miles apart, China and African countries are bound together by a shared dream and will surely make China-Africa community with a shared future flourish.