Source: Africa-China Review    Published: 2024-12

By Wang Wen

The convening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in 2024 is a significant milestone for bilateral relations. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, which has persisted for 24 years, not only plays a significant role in promoting bilateral development between China and Africa, but also has significant practical significance in the entire world history.

Firstly, historically, no rising power has played a pragmatic, rational, and win-win role in Africa's development like China. In the past 500 years of modern globalization, at least 10 major powers have emerged, namely Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The vast majority of these major powers launched colonization, wars, and the black slave trade in Africa. Although this cruel and bloody history is far away from us, it needs us to remember it.

China also remembers the history of being bullied and oppressed by Western powers back then. Remembering history is not for revenge, but to prevent its repetition. China's rise does not want any disasters, colonialism, or wars to repeat themselves in Africa like Western powers did. From this perspective, it is unfair for some Western and African media to still use terms such as "neo-colonialism" and "imperial aggression" to describe China.

Secondly, in reality, the 24 years of China-Africa cooperation have truly tapped into the spillover effects of China's development model. Chinese enterprises have participated in the construction and renovation of over 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 100,000 kilometers of highways, and nearly a thousand bridges, nearly a hundred ports, 66,000 kilometers of power transmission and transformation lines, and 150,000 kilometers of backbone communication networks in various African countries. They have also established multiple agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa, promoted more than 300 advanced agricultural technologies, and achieved continuous positive growth in the amount of agricultural products imported from Africa for seven consecutive years.

At present, China is still helping Africa to improve the Internet era, and even the new energy and smart era. From this perspective, China's rise is a blessing for Africa. Of course, Africa is also helping China with production capacity cooperation and market supply. The cooperation between China and Africa is win-win, rational, voluntary, and forward-looking. Under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, we continuously promote economic cooperation and resist ideological interference. From this perspective, some Western media repeatedly smear the cooperation between China and Africa. We should actively resist and not let those voices influence the progress of cooperation between China and Africa.

Thirdly, China-Africa cooperation has enormous prospects in the future. As President Xi Jinping said, without the modernization of China and Africa, there would be no modernization of the world. With a huge market of 3 billion people, China and Africa have inexhaustible potential in infrastructure construction, agricultural manufacturing, the Internet, transportation, tourism, and other aspects.

Currently, to my knowledge, there are 2 million Chinese workers, entrepreneurs, and students in Africa. Africans in China also constitute the fastest-growing foreign population. Many Africans have become "internet celebrities" in China, with millions of followers, and some have even found lifelong partners in China. From this perspective, the exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa in terms of personnel, economy, and social interactions are equal and mutually beneficial, providing significant support for the formation of a new type of human civilization.

In summary, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is a great platform that promotes historical progress, maintains current cooperation, and enhances future expectations. We must persist in this endeavor.

For the future, we will still face many challenges, such as provocations and interference from the West. However, we must have confidence, persist, and believe that the future of China-Africa relations will undoubtedly be better.