Introduction
From September 4 to 6, Beijing hosted more than 50 African leaders who converged in China to attend the ninth China- Africa summit, in order to meet and discuss policies and cooperation agreements with officials from the continent’s biggest lender and investor.
This year’s summit marked another grand reunion of the China-Africa “big family” following those held in Beijing inn 2006, in Johannesburg in 2015, and again in Beijing in 2018. It is also the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said that China stands ready to work with Africa to implement 10 partnership actions to jointly advance modernisation. He also proposed that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations, and that the overall characterization of China-Africa relations be elevated to "an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era”. Also, in order to to ensure the successful implementation of the 10 partnership initiatives, China will provide Africa with 360 billion yuan ($50.69 billion) in the next three years. According to the action plan, China will grant duty-free treatment to 100% of the tariff lines of products from least developed countries with diplomatic ties with China.
The China - Africa summit, a brief overview
The China - Africa summit has been held every three years since 2000. The first ministerial conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing from 10th to 12nd October of 2000.
More than 80 ministers from China and 44 African countries, representatives of 17 regional and international organisations, people from the business communities of China and Africa were invited to the conference, that charted the direction for the development of a new, stable and long-term partnership featuring equality and mutual benefit between China and African countries.
For Beijing, the summit represents a great diplomatic opportunity to underline its prominence as a global superpower. Moreover, “Africa is important to China because of the strength of its votes at the United Nations General Assembly. Those photos with African leaders, those big headlines on the papers, will be very important for President Xi to get”. In the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era, indeed, was highlighted that
China and Africa jointly call for an equal and orderly multipolar world, and firmly safeguard the international system with the U.N. at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. We call for necessary reform and strengthening of the U.N. including its Security Council, redressing the historical injustices done to Africa, and increasing the representation of developing countries, African countries in particular, in the U.N. and its Security Council. China supports making special arrangements on the U.N. Security Council reform to meet Africa’s aspiration as a priority.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, moreover, underlined during the Forum that the China-Africa partnership is a pillar of South-South cooperation and expressed the global body’s support for this partnership. Furthermore, “China’s remarkable record of development - including on eradicating poverty – provides a wealth of experience and expertise”, he continued.
“The China-Africa partnership can drive the renewable energy revolution. It can be a catalyst for key transitions on food systems and digital connectivity,” he said. “And as home to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, Africa can maximize the potential of China’s support in areas from trade to data management, finance and technology.”
During the summit promises were made with regard to support to different types of green projects, with Mr Xi “declaring a readiness to launch 30 clean energy projects and to co-operate in the nuclear sector”, thus underlining Beijing’s way different approach from France, that has for decades mined Niger’s uranium to supply its own nuclear power sector without proposing generation projects for West Africa.