Between the 30 and 31May, the 12th China-Africa Think Tank Forum held in Jinhua City of the Zhejiang Province in China and brought together more than 50 scholars from academic institutions, Think Tanks and policy circles from across China and Africa to interrogate the trajectories of the China-Africa cooperation and its prospects. Organized by the secretariat of the Follow-Up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) alongside the department of foreign affairs, Zhejiang Provincial People’s government, the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University and Jinhua Municipal People’s government under the theme of centennial history of China-Africa rejuvenation and cooperation.
The Forum focused on four sub-themes; China-Africa Unity and rejuvenation: retrospect and prospects; the principles of sincerity: real result, amity and good faith and the principles of pursuing greater good and shared prosperity under the global development and civilization initiative and lastly; toward common prosperity: Africa’s 2023 vision and Chinese modernization. Within the purview of the theme, the Forum went down memory lane to recall the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of China first medical team to Africa, specifically to Algeria especially at time the country was then barely recovering from the anti-colonial war imposed by France.
And since then in April, 1963, when the China’s first medical team set off to Africa, batch after batch of Chinese doctors and other medical personnel have been working in Africa, providing much needed medical aid and services to mostly local people across Africa.
The Forum also recalled that it is been sixty years since the former Premier Zhou Enlai made his iconic visit to Africa, the longest diplomatic odyssey of any world leader to the continent spending 2 months in Africa from 13 December 1963 to 5 February 1964 and laid out, while in Ghana and Mali the eight principle to guide China’s foreign aid which among others included that “in providing aid to other countries , the Chinese government strictly respects the sovereignty of the recipient countries and never attaches any conditions or asks for any privileges; provides economic aid in form of interest free or low interest loans and extends time limit for repayment when necessary so as to lighten the burden of the recipient countries as far as possible and that “in providing aid to other countries the purpose of the Chinese government is not to make the recipient country dependent on China but to help them embark step by step on the road to self-reliance and independent economic development.”
Further included in the pivotal principles was that the Chinese government tries its best to help the recipient countries build projects which requires less investment but yielding quicker result so that the recipient government may increase their income and accumulate capital. Like the famous five principles of Peaceful Co-existence, the eight principles guiding Chinese aid to foreign countries especially Africa, Asia and Latin America has been etched in the annals of Chinese diplomatic practice and is fervently adhered to in modern terms as it was sixty years ago when it was first formulated, only varied with changing times while its core principles remain consistent.
The birth of the legendry Organization of African Unity (OAU) sixty years ago in Addis Ababa Ethiopia as the then highest expression of Pan-African Unity did not escape the attention of the Think Tank Forum. China’s unforgettable roles in supporting the organization to accomplish one of its key avowed commitment, liquidation of colonial rule and its other variant of racist and minority rule was recalled by the battery of Chinese and Africa scholars in attendance of the Forum.
With an inspiring opening remark by the Chinese government special representative to Africa Mr. Liu Yuxi that the Forum should identify and clarify vital frame work to bring the cooperation between the two sides to update, generate sustainable momentum to maintain its vitality and deliver more tangible result, the task of the Think Tank become even more clearer and the Forum generally agreed that the trajectories of China-Africa cooperation has entered a new historical phase where the international system brims with opportunities but at the same faced a dangerous push back from aggressive and militarist Washington- led western alliance, obsessed with hegemony and bloc confrontation.
The persistent provocation of wanton interference in China’s internal affairs using the Chinese national question of Taiwan as a pretext and increasing saber-rattling in the South and East China Seas points to the critical flash points of contemporary international system. China-Africa cooperation, must play pivotal roles in advancing the trend of cooperation and solidarity of building a community of shared future for all mankind and play a constructive role as a reliable pole of stability, peace and collective security.
The Forum identified that the initiatives for global Development, Security and Civilisation accords to the objective concerns and interests of Africa countries and call for their core principles to be mainstreamed in the mechanisms of the Forum on China-Africa cooperation, FOCAC and other related international organizations. The Global Development Initiative (GDI) first espoused during President Xi Jinping contribution to the UN general assembly in 2021 reflected on the challenge of sustainable and inclusive development with emphasis on food security, industrial and production capacity cooperation, poverty alleviation and eradication as vital roadmap to shared prosperity.
The relevance of the initiative to the challenges in Africa was noted. The Global Security Initiative, which president Xi Jinping put forward at the Asia Boao Forum in 2022 underline the fact of consultations, dialogue as the critical nexus for global collective security, against the whims of alliances and bloc confrontation most notoriously exemplified by the US led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a relic of the cold war whose current existence poses existential threat to formulating and evolving mechanisms of collective global security.
Africa with multiple security concerns sometimes, instigated by extra-regional conflicts is considered critical stake holder to an inclusive security mechanism.
Global civilization Initiative (GCI) reflects on the diversity of the human community and the imperative to institute mechanisms for dialogue among civilizations as the best guarantee for international understanding with the consequence for promoting peaceful coexistence. There is no doubt that Africa’s rich cultural heritage and the resilience of her civic bond despite the vicissitudes of modern times would enrich the world through a framework of a dialogue among civilizations.
The two day China-Africa Think Tank Forum in the enchanting City of Jinhua was not a jamboree but an impactful international dialogue. As any credible scholarly gathering, the Forum did not proffer to find an all time solution, final statement or last word on the trajectories of China-Africa cooperation but sought to add clarity to the roadmap with a view to continuously tap on the broader wisdom of the two sides to enrich the process and also to add dints of calm to the turbulence of the contemporary world order.
On the note of optimism, the Think Tank Forum looked forward that the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa cooperation (FOCAC) expected to hold in 2024 would reflect the dynamism of China –Africa cooperation in the new era, reflecting the challenges of the times and engaging the opportunities, it offers.
Onunaiju, who participated in the Forum, is the Director Center for China Studies, Abuja.
