The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6. The theme of the summit is « Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future. »
The FOCAC meeting this year will be the fourth time the forum is held in the form of a summit. Leaders of FOCAC’s African members will attend the summit at the invitation of the forum. Representatives of relevant African regional organizations and international organizations will attend relevant forum events.
At the summit, Chinese and African leaders will discuss friendly cooperation and jointly outline a bright blueprint for the development of both China and Africa. This summit is expected to open up new horizons for the development of China-Africa relations and write a new chapter in building a China-Africa community with a shared future.
China is the largest developing country in the world, and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Shared past experiences and similar aims and goals have brought China and Africa close together.
The spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation characterized by sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice, and progress with the times and openness and inclusiveness, truly captures the relations of China and Africa working together in good and hard times over the past decades, and provides a source of strength for the continuous growth of China-Africa friendly relations.
China always regards developing solidarity and cooperation with African countries as the cornerstone of its foreign policy. It always follows the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith when developing relations with Africa. China is a reliable friend and sincere partner for African countries in their efforts to safeguard independence, and promote development and revitalization.
Taking the 2024 Summit of the FOCAC as an opportunity, both China and Africa will continue to uphold the spirit of friendship and cooperation, and forge ahead together on the path of win-win cooperation and common development. This will further strengthen the bond of the China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Since its establishment in 2000, the FOCAC has been dedicated to achieving common prosperity and sustainable development for the people of China and Africa. Adhering to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, it has evolved into a crucial platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation between China and Africa.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015 attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC, and three years later, he presided over the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC and delivered a keynote speech. In 2021, Xi attended the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC and delivered a keynote speech.
From the « ten cooperation plans » to the « eight major initiatives » and to the « nine programs of China-Africa cooperation, » China and Africa have been assisting each other on the path to economic development and national rejuvenation, continuously expanding cooperation into new areas. This has played a positive role in guiding international cooperation with Africa in the right direction.
China and Africa have always focused on cooperation and worked together to implement the outcomes of the FOCAC. This has effectively promoted the common development of China and Africa, bringing tangible benefits to the people of both sides, and laying a solid foundation for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
The mechanism and outcomes of the FOCAC have been widely welcomed by Africans and highly praised by the international community.
Some said that based on friendship, mutual respect, trust, and mutual benefit, both sides actively promote the development of China-Africa relations, and the fruitful cooperation achievements have proven that the FOCAC is a united, stable, and efficient cooperation mechanism.
Some said the FOCAC has facilitated the vigorous development of China-Africa relations. China and Africa, hand in hand, actively pursue the goals of the FOCAC: Equal consultation, enhancing understanding, expanding consensus, strengthening friendship and promoting cooperation. It is believed that more achievements will be reached and benefit the people of both China and Africa.
African countries and people are advancing modernization along the path they have independently chosen. On this path to modernization, China has all along been a firm supporter, and walking side by side with Africa.
At the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue held last August, China announced to launch the Initiative on Supporting Africa’s Industrialization, the Plan for China Supporting Africa’s Agricultural Modernization and the Plan for China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. These three major initiatives cover the areas urgently needed for Africa to achieve modernization, demonstrating China’s sincere support for Africa’s development through concrete actions.
China and Africa, through their creative explorations for modernization, are giving their answers to the questions of the times, and making joint efforts to advance the great endeavors of win-win cooperation, harmonious coexistence and shared prosperity of civilizations. They will deliver a better future for the Chinese and African people, and set a fine example in the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. The vibrant development of the « Global South » represented by China and Africa has profoundly influenced the course of world history.
It is hoped that both China and Africa will take the opportunity of the 2024 Summit of the FOCAC to further deepen solidarity and cooperation, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. This will help build more consensus in jointly advancing modernization and building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, and make new contributions to promoting modernization and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
