Yi Shaoxuan, Research Assistant
Center for Turkish Studies, Shanghai University
From September 4 to 6, 2024, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Beijing. Heads of State and Government from China and 53 African countries attended the summit. After the summit, the two sides jointly issued statements and initiatives such as “Beijing declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era”, “Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)”, “The China-Africa Joint Statement on Deepening Cooperation within the Framework of the Global Development Initiative (GDI)” and the “Ten Partnership Actions for Modernization”. Such documents are striving to make FOCAC a highly effective platform for South-South cooperation and a well-established brand for leading international cooperation with Africa. It can be said that the summit is of great significance not only to Africa’s own development, but also to the overall rise of the global South and the building of a fair and just new global economic and political order.
More importantly, at this summit, the ancient philosophical wisdom of the Chinese people and the African people—— “Da Tong” and “Ubuntu” ——resonate with each other, once again demonstrating to the world the unity of 2.8 billion people in China and Africa. “Da Tong” is short of “Tian Xia Da Tong”. It comes from The Book of Rites, a book with more than 2000 years of history. The concept “Da Tong” means all people under the heaven are of one family and all nations should live in harmony. The term “Ubuntu” originates from the language spoken by the Zulu people in South Africa, but represents the worldview or philosophical thinking of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. Kenyan philosopher John Mbiti summarized it as “Because We are, therefore, I am”. Ubuntu philosophy emphasize that the individual can not exist independently of others, thus attach great significance to harmony. This coincides with the concept of “Da Tong” in traditional Chinese Confucianism, and the profound meaning contained therein is in stark contrast to Western individualism.
What is the impact of the summit on China and Africa?
For China, the cooperation with African countries opens a new chapter of the Belt and Road Initiative in the post-epidemic era.
In terms of international influence, the China-Africa cooperation event has become a model of “South-South cooperation” and strengthened the solidarity of developing countries. As the only developing country among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China has shouldered the responsibility of being the voice of the global South. The fact that 53 of the 54 AU member states attended the summit also demonstrates China’s power to appeal.
In terms of economic and trade, China has found a new outlet and raw material for its clean energy. In recent years, Western governments, especially Biden administration have imposed high tariffs and thresholds on China’s electric vehicles and solar energy products, and have constructed concepts such as “overproduction” to drive out China’s related industries. Taking solar panels as an example, Chinese national brands, such as “CATL” , together occupy about 80% of the global supply chain with good quality and low price. Therefore, this kind of malicious barriers to China’s clean energy industry is not a small blow. What’s more, Chinese companies have cobalt, lithium and other raw material projects or hold stakes in mining companies in quite a few African countries, with Chinese companies investing $7.8 billion in African minerals in 2023 alone. Those investments is intended to feed its green industries, especially electric vehicle industry. “Ten Partnership Actions for Modernization” mentioned that China supports Africa to improve climate resilience, provide new energy technologies and products, implement 30 clean energy and green development projects, and set up China-Africa green industry chain special funds. This thriving market in Africa will give new impetus to China’s new energy industry.
In terms of mutual understanding of civilizations, this summit has promoted the friendship between China and Africa, confirming the path of “people-to-people bond” under the Belt and Road Initiative. China does not have the burden of colonial aggression on Africa, but shares the deep comradeship of common struggle. Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized in his reply to a reporter’s question during the summit that “China-Africa friendship was forged in the struggle for national independence and liberation of the two sides, and has been strengthened in the cause of common development and revitalization”. It was a large number of African countries that staunchly safeguarded China’s interests in the international arena and voted in favor of restoring China’s legitimate rights and interests in the General Assembly at the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1971. Chairman Mao summed it up when he said, “It was the African brothers who carried China into the United Nations”. Nowadays, China chooses Africa for assistance and investment, it carries a good friendship that spans many years.
For African countries, this meeting and its outcome are also a source of satisfaction. In terms of international standing, the people of the world’s two most populous continents have met again, proclaiming to the world the unity and friendship of the countries of the South. A nationally liberated Africa is no longer at the mercy of colonizers, but is actively fighting for its political and economic interests and making its voice heard on the world stage.
In terms of trade dealings, China has provided 360 billion yuan (more than 50 billion U.S. dollars) in aid to Africa, is expected to create one million jobs. China has promised to deepen cooperation between the two sides in the fields of industry, agriculture, trade, and infrastructure. In the context of the weak global economy after the epidemic, the conclusion of these cooperation comes just in time African countries. Around 2030, a part of the African countries will face the pressure of debt repayment years, so the stimulation of emerging investment may be able to alleviate part of the burden.
Finally, in the mingling of African culture Chinese culture, the two peoples deepen their friendship. As mentioned above, the resonance between the Ubuntu ideology and Chinese Confucianism’s “Da Tong” not only allows both sides to have a tacit understanding due to similar cultural backgrounds, but also deepens the sense of identity and pride in their own cultural genes.
What is the impact of the Summit on the Global South?
First, the Summit is an important part of the global activities of the countries of the Global South. 2024 saw the release of the Global Presence Index by the Royal Institute of Elcano, Spain, in which the key measure is the influence of countries in the economic, military, scientific, social and cultural spheres. The data show that the overall level of global presence in the Global South has continued to grow, and that the difference in global presence between the North and the South has decreased. International events such as the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) have broadened the influence and appeal of the South in the international arena.
Second, the Summit demonstrated that there is more than one Western model of modernization for the global South. The “Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)” proposes that the two sides will jointly explore modernization for peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity on the basis of the development and revitalization of their respective countries. Among the initiatives to modernize the main social sector with Chinese characteristics, the fight against poverty is a typical case. China has lifted nearly 100 million of its own people out of poverty in just a decade. According to the latest figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 733 million people still suffer from hunger in 2023, with a significant portion in Africa. China has very valuable experience in using agricultural development as an effective way to eradicate poverty. Sharing China’s agricultural development path is of great significance to Africa, where small farmers are the mainstay. The summit document also pointed out that the two sides will build a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance, create 100 demonstration villages for poverty reduction in agriculture, send 500 agricultural experts to African countries, train 1,000 agricultural wealth leaders, and push forward the construction and development of the China-Africa Mycorrhiza Cooperation Center and the China-Africa Bamboo Center. UN Secretary General Guterres has also expressed his appreciation for China-Africa cooperation in poverty reduction. Compared with the industrialization and big machine production in the West, perhaps this agriculture-led modernization model is more adapted to African soil.
Once again, the summit demonstrated the strong desire of the countries of the South to pursue development. Development is an important right shared by all countries in the world, and in 2010, then U.S. President Barack Obama was overheard saying in an interview with Australian media: “If over a billion Chinese citizens have the same living pattern as Australians and Americans do right now, then all of us are going through a very miserable time, the planet just can’t sustain it”. Although Obama was discussing energy saving and emission reduction in developing countries, this subconscious expression implicitly implies an arrogance that people in vast non-Western regions should not have the kind of affluence that the Americans and Australians have. Times have changed, and nowadays emerging countries are not only seeking to be “Not hungry”, but also to be “well-fed”. For example, the summit document mentions the “Development Partnership Initiative”: China and Africa will jointly build a global network of development promotion centers and assist in the implementation of 1,000 “small but beautiful” livelihood projects; The Chinese government will donate $50 million to renew the China-World Bank Group Partnership Fund, focusing on supporting African countries to realize inclusive and sustainable development. Many of the projects agreed upon at the Summit are livelihood projects that benefit the grassroots, which is a reflection of the people of developing countries’ pursuit of happiness and development.
Finally, the beautiful atmosphere demonstrated by the summit reveals that the main theme of the world’s future development is not “small yard, high fence” and mutual aggression, but a community of shared future with equality and mutual benefit. Back in 2000, the Economist magazine of the UK published a cover article entitled “Hopeless Africa”, describing it as the “Hopeless Continent” . But it was also in that year that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was established. Reciprocal win-win and mutual cooperation among countries of the South like between China and Africa has become a fashionable trend. Emerging countries such as India and Türkiye have also attempted to establish broader cooperation with Africa, and cooperation within the countries of the South has come to be more friendly, more egalitarian, and less burdensome.
The “Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)” reads, “China will not interfere in African countries’ internal affairs; China will not impose its will on African countries; China will not attach political strings to assistance to Africa; and China will not seek unilateral political gains in investment and financing cooperation with Africa. The two sides will always uphold the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, and foster an even stronger comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between China and Africa.” These references are in fact in the same vein as the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit. The Bandung Conference was the first major international conference to discuss the vital interests of the peoples of Asia and Africa without the participation of colonial powers. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is not only a continuation of the spirit of the Bandung Conference, but is also expected to become a new brand of “South-South cooperation” as well known as the Bandung Conference.
