A visitor stands in front of flags representing different African countries during the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015.
With the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018 to be held in early September, Shu Zhan, the former Chinese ambassador to Eritrea and Rwanda, highlighted that African countries have been active actors in initiating the FOCAC, and Africans and Chinese people always consulted and worked together for the common good.
“Different from the cooperation schemes between Africa and other countries in the world, the FOCAC emphasizes African initiative from the very beginning,” Shu said. “Africans have joint ownership of the FOCAC.”
The forum has had a profound and far-reaching impact on the exploration of the Chinese mechanism of multilateral cooperation in the new era, he added.
The first ministerial conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing from Oct 10-12, 2000. The past 18 years have witnessed six ministerial conferences, of which two were upgraded to the FOCAC Summit, namely the Beijing Summit in 2006 and the Johannesburg Summit in 2015.
Shu stated that it was African countries who first proposed establishing a multilateral cooperation mechanism between China and Africa in the late 1990s. After years of connection with the United States, Japan and European countries, the African partners did not find sufficient sincerity in the Western countries’ cooperation with the continent. At the same time, China’s sincerity and development model became attractive to the African countries.
On May 6, 1999, Madagascar Foreign Minister Lila Hanitra Ratsifandrihamanana clearly stated their wish to launch a China-Africa forum during her visit to China. Before that, the Organization of African Unity’s Vice-President Ahmed Haggag and some other high-level officials from African countries had also suggested the establishment of multilateral cooperation mechanisms with China.
Consensus was reached later within the Chinese government that the forum would be a great opportunity to tackle the obstacles to the China-Africa relations. Aiming at building new political and economic orders of 21st century and promote China-Africa trade cooperation, the forum must value the wishes of African nations and seek common development.
In October 1999, then Chinese president Jiang Zemin sent invitation letters to leaders of the 44 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, extending welcome to the ministers of foreign affairs and economy. The invitations were enthusiastically responded to, said Shu.
During the preparation of the forum, the African agency and ownership were fulfilled. The African parties raised clear requirements relating to the mechanism, efficiency and following-up arrangements of the China-Africa forum, distinguishing it from the cooperation systems with other outside partners. Particularly, they emphasized that as a gathering of Southern countries, the conference should pave the way for the innovations in South-South Cooperation. All the suggestions were taken into careful consideration.
Shu added that the FOCAC logo is another illustration of the status of African countries in the FOCAC. The red “C” on the left wing stands for China, while the whole logo resembles the letter “a”, symbolizing Africa.“You see, China only takes a part,” he said.
Shu believed that the key to the forum’s success should be the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration that China has always upheld. As the first multilateral cooperation mechanism with Africa advocated by China, the FOCAC has become an outstanding model of China-Africa connection, and even paved the way for other nations in the world to establish sound cooperation scheme with Africa.
A visitor stands in front of flags representing different African countries during the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015.
With the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018 to be held in early September, Shu Zhan, the former Chinese ambassador to Eritrea and Rwanda, highlighted that African countries have been active actors in initiating the FOCAC, and Africans and Chinese people always consulted and worked together for the common good.
“Different from the cooperation schemes between Africa and other countries in the world, the FOCAC emphasizes African initiative from the very beginning,” Shu said. “Africans have joint ownership of the FOCAC.”
The forum has had a profound and far-reaching impact on the exploration of the Chinese mechanism of multilateral cooperation in the new era, he added.
The first ministerial conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing from Oct 10-12, 2000. The past 18 years have witnessed six ministerial conferences, of which two were upgraded to the FOCAC Summit, namely the Beijing Summit in 2006 and the Johannesburg Summit in 2015.
Shu stated that it was African countries who first proposed establishing a multilateral cooperation mechanism between China and Africa in the late 1990s. After years of connection with the United States, Japan and European countries, the African partners did not find sufficient sincerity in the Western countries’ cooperation with the continent. At the same time, China’s sincerity and development model became attractive to the African countries.
On May 6, 1999, Madagascar Foreign Minister Lila Hanitra Ratsifandrihamanana clearly stated their wish to launch a China-Africa forum during her visit to China. Before that, the Organization of African Unity’s Vice-President Ahmed Haggag and some other high-level officials from African countries had also suggested the establishment of multilateral cooperation mechanisms with China.
Consensus was reached later within the Chinese government that the forum would be a great opportunity to tackle the obstacles to the China-Africa relations. Aiming at building new political and economic orders of 21st century and promote China-Africa trade cooperation, the forum must value the wishes of African nations and seek common development.
In October 1999, then Chinese president Jiang Zemin sent invitation letters to leaders of the 44 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, extending welcome to the ministers of foreign affairs and economy. The invitations were enthusiastically responded to, said Shu.
During the preparation of the forum, the African agency and ownership were fulfilled. The African parties raised clear requirements relating to the mechanism, efficiency and following-up arrangements of the China-Africa forum, distinguishing it from the cooperation systems with other outside partners. Particularly, they emphasized that as a gathering of Southern countries, the conference should pave the way for the innovations in South-South Cooperation. All the suggestions were taken into careful consideration.
Shu added that the FOCAC logo is another illustration of the status of African countries in the FOCAC. The red “C” on the left wing stands for China, while the whole logo resembles the letter “a”, symbolizing Africa.“You see, China only takes a part,” he said.
Shu believed that the key to the forum’s success should be the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration that China has always upheld. As the first multilateral cooperation mechanism with Africa advocated by China, the FOCAC has become an outstanding model of China-Africa connection, and even paved the way for other nations in the world to establish sound cooperation scheme with Africa.
