- True to his call for more collaborations with Africa, President Xi is set to host African leaders for a summit in the first week of September as Beijing seeks to assert its influence in the continent further.
- The theme of the summit is “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”.
Image: XINHUA
Chinese President Xi Jinping has hailed his country's and Africa's shared endeavour to build a community with a shared future.
President Xi stressed on Tuesday that the two need to strengthen their ties more, citing the ever-changing global dynamics.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the president made the remarks in a reply to scholars from 50 African countries.
The agency reports that in the letter, Xi said China and Africa needed to "strengthen solidarity and cooperation more than ever before.
"The Chinese president called on the scholars to provide the intellectual advise towards the vision.
"The continuous development and growth of China that pursues peaceful development and is committed to reform and opening up will surely further strengthen the forces for world peace and international justice, and inject inexhaustible impetus into the process of global modernisation, especially the development and revitalisation of the Global South," Xi said, according to the wire.
True to his call for more collaborations with Africa, President Xi is set to host African leaders for a summit in the first week of September as Beijing seeks to assert its influence in the continent further.
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has been scheduled in Beijing from September 4 to September 6.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced that leaders would attend the meeting at the invitation of FOCAC.
“Leaders of FOCAC’s African members will attend the summit at the invitation of the forum,” she said.
The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs said representatives of relevant African regional organizations and international organizations will also attend relevant forum events.
The theme of the summit is “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”.
President William Ruto is expected to lead Kenya in the meeting, which comes against the backdrop of the Chinese government seeking to further deepen ties with Africa.
Kenya and China have been exchanging papers on some of the areas of cooperation that the government seeks to pursue at this year’s FOCAC summit.
The meeting will bring cooperation opportunities for our friends for the next five years and beyond,” Chinese ambassador to Kenya Zhou Pingjian said in a recent media event.
The meeting would also seek to follow up on the resolutions of a ministerial summit that was held in Dakar, Senegal, in November 2021.
A recent high-level meeting of the Chinese Communist Party's top organ recently reiterated the call for China and Africa to deepen their modernisation plans.
President Xi, according to the press report, expressed optimism the vision will be achieved, and deepened.
"The discussion on China-Africa cooperation, which will open up even more splendid prospects for China-Africa relations," Xi said.
He raised his hope that based on the Dar es Salaam Consensus between China and Africa, both sides will step up research and exploration on the development path of Global South countries, China-Africa and South-South cooperation, and continue to provide important intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the Global South, Xinhua reported.
In March 2024, Chinese and African scholars under the FOCAC think-tank urged the two sides to explore independent, people-centred paths based on a country’s cultural characteristics and through mutual respect and mutual learning.
The Dar es Salaam Consensus is among the instruments that will be ratified during this year’s summit.
China boasts of helping Africa build 150,000 kilometres of communication backbone networks that serve over 700 million users.
The Asian powerhouse also asserts that it has carried out clean energy power generation projects in Africa as well as roads, railways, and sea ports.