Mr. Paul Frimpong, Executive Director of ACCPA,
Scholars and friends,
Good morning! It’s my great pleasure to attend the ACCPA FOCAC Dialogue. Last month, I was honored to accompany H.E. President Nana Akufo-Addo to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing and meet with President Xi Jinping. The two leaders jointly announced the elevation of China-Ghana relations to a strategic partnership and reached a series of important consensuses, which laid out the blueprint for the future development of China-Ghana relations. After I returning from Beijing, the Chinese Embassy held a briefing for the Summit. Mr. Frimpong attended as a honorable guest and made an impressive speech. Today I’m delighted to come to your home ground to exchange views with scholars and friends attending this Dialogue on China-Africa cooperation in the new era.
The 2024 FOCAC Summit was successfully held in Beijing from 4th to 6th September. Leaders from all 53 African countries with diplomatic relations with China and their representatives, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and representatives of more than 30 international and African regional organizations attended the Summit. It was the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years, with the highest number of foreign leaders in attendance.
The 2024 FOCAC Beijing Summit was filled with highlights, representing a historic milestone in China-Africa relations. Based on my own experience, I would like to summarize the spirit and outcomes of this Summit using three “E”s:
The first “E” is “Elevation”, which is the elevation of relations. During the Summit, China established or elevated strategic partnerships with 30 African nations. This means China now has strategic partnerships with all 53 African countries that have diplomatic ties with China. The relations between China and Africa were also elevated to an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era. Africa now holds a unique position as the only continent to have this level of partnership with China, which fully reflects the strategic importance China and Africa hold for each other. Just as President Xi Jinping pointed out, the China-Africa relationship is now at its best period in history. China and its 53 African strategic partner standing shoulder to shoulder will surely exert greater influence on promoting the well-being of our peoples and better maintaining world peace and stability.
The second “E” is “Establishment”, which is the establishment of a six-point proposition on China-Africa joint efforts to advance modernization. Realizing modernization is the legitimate and inalienable right of developing countries. China is willing to work with developing countries to ensure that no one left behind in global modernization. President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Africa should advance modernization that is just and equitable, that is open and win-win, that puts the people first, that features diversity and inclusiveness, that is eco-friendly, and that is underpinned by peace and security. This proposition is widely accepted by African leaders and will have a significant and far-reaching impact on spearheading faster modernization of the Global South and advancing global modernization.
The third “E” is “Enrichment”, which is the enrichment of cooperation. The Ten Partnership Actions was drawn up for China-Africa cooperation going forward, and the two sides adopted the Beijing Declaration and the Action Plan for strengthening China-Africa cooperation in the next three years. The Ten Partnership Actions covers ten major areas including mutual learning among civilizations, trade prosperity, industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development cooperation, health, agriculture and livelihoods, people-to-people exchanges, green development, and common security. For example, China will invite 1,000 members of African political parties to visit China, offering 60,000 training opportunities, carry out 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects, launch 20 programs of health facilities and malaria treatment, send 500 agricultural experts, launch 30 clean energy projects, and create at least 1 million jobs for Africa. The Chinese government will provide RMB 360 billion yuan (50.6 billion US dollars) of financial support through the next three years to implement the Ten Partnership Actions. This indicates that there are huge opportunities for future China-Ghana and China-Africa cooperation. We welcome all African countries to participate.
Dear friends, there is an Chinese proverbs saying: “When one person gathers firewood, the fire is not strong. But when everybody adds wood, the flames rise high. It is difficult for one person to carry a thousand kilograms, but many people can even move a mountain”. Cooperation is always better than working alone. China is the largest developing country while Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. In a world undergoing major changes unseen in a century, China and Africa need to stay united more than ever. The 2024 FOCAC Summit paints a bright future for China-Africa cooperation. I believe that under the joint leadership of Chinese and African leaders, with the solidarity and cooperation among 2.8 billion Chinese and African people, we will give fresh impetus to Global South cooperation and break new ground for building a community with a shared future for mankind.