Interview: “China-Africa Friendship Is Not An Overnight Achievement”

How do you assess the growth in cooperation between China and Africa since 1960?

Counting from the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt in 1956, this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Africa. Over the past 65 years, China and Africa have forged an unbreakable fraternity in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism. They have embarked on a road of distinctive cooperation on the journey of development and revitalization. They have written a wonderful chapter of mutual assistance in the complex changes and have set a shining example for building a new type of international relations.

At the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that was recently held in Dakar, Senegal, Chinese President XI Jinping via video link delivered a keynote speech entitled "Uphold the Tradition of Always Standing Together and Jointly Build a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era." In the speech, he did put forward for the very first time the expression, “The spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation.” Here, I would like to use the expression based on “The principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests” to mark 65 years of mutual solidarity and strive side by side between China and Africa.

How significant has Africa been as a partner to China over the years?

China is the largest developing country in the world, and Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Developing solidarity and cooperation with African countries has been the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy, as well as a firm and longstanding strategy. China-Africa friendship has not been an overnight achievement, nor has it been gifted from over.

Rather, it has been fostered throughout the years when China and Africa supported and stood alongside each other in trying times. Over the past years, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, President XI Jinping put forward the principles of China’s Africa policy such as sincerity, real results, amity and good faith as well as the pursuit of good and shared interests, charting the course and providing the fundamental guidelines for China’s cooperation with Africa. The consecutive successes of both the Johannesburg Summit in 2015 and the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2018 pushed China-Africa cooperation to a new and unprecedented level.

The last FOCAC summit held in Senegal last month. What difference has FOCAC made in cooperation between China and Africa until this day?

Since its foundation in 2000, the FOCAC has seen 21 years. Under the guidance and promotion of the forum, China-Africa cooperation presents the 3 following characteristics: Political mutual trust continues to deepen. China-Africa relations have completed a three-level jump from "New partnership" to "New strategic partnership" and finally, to "Comprehensive strategic partnership." Such a diplomatic vision of "visiting relatives and friends" has laid a solid political foundation for the development of China-Africa relations. Practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results. Compared to the year 2000, the trade volume and investment stock between China and Africa have increased respectively by 20 times and 100 times.