China proposes plan to advance modernisation with Africa

China and Africa have been more closely bonded in their pursuit of modernisation as Chinese president Xi Jinping announced last Thursday an upgrade of China-Africa relations and unveiled 10 partnership actions.In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Xi proposed that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations.He also proposed that the overall characterisation of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.Vision for Global SouthXi underlined modernisation as "an inalienable right of all countries" in his speech, saying there will be no global modernisation without the modernisation of China and Africa.He added that the joint pursuit of modernisation by China and Africa will set off a wave of modernisation in the Global South and open a new chapter for building a community with a shared future for humanity. He further stressed jointly advancing modernisation that is just and equitable, is open and win-win, puts the people first, features diversity and inclusiveness, is eco-friendly, and is underpinned by peace and security.Xi's remarks were well received by the audience. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the need for China and Africa to work in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration."China has a long history of friendship and solidarity with the people of Africa over many centuries. And we thank China for continuing to expand and develop this spirit of cooperation and collaboration with our continent," he said.United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said China's partnerships with the African continent are a main pillar of South-South cooperation."China's remarkable rapid development, including eradicating poverty, provides a wealth of experience and expertise. Africa can maximise the potential of China's support in areas from trade to finance and technology," Guterres said.Concrete partnership actionsTo materialise the modernisation vision, Xi proposed 10 partnership actions to be implemented in the next three years, which cover areas of mutual learning among civilisations, trade prosperity, industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development cooperation, health, agriculture and livelihoods, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, green development and common security.For mutual learning among civilisations, he said China stands ready to work with Africa to build a platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network for development, and 25 centres on China and Africa studies. The government will invite 1 000 members of African political parties to China to deepen exchanges of experience in party and state governance.For trade prosperity, Xi said China will voluntarily and unilaterally open its market wider and has decided to give all the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines. This has made China the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a step, which will help turn China's big market into Africa's big opportunity.To strengthen industrial chain cooperation, China is willing to push forward the pilot zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, and launch an empowerment programme for African small and medium-sized enterprises. A China-Africa digital technology cooperation centre will be jointly built, and 20 digital demonstration projects will be initiated to embrace the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, Xi said.In terms of partnership action for connectivity, China is prepared to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, he said.

China proposes plan to advance modernisation with Africa

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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China proposes plan to advance modernisation with Africa

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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