On March 7, 2024, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi talked about China-Africa relations when he met the press during the NPC and CPPCC sessions.

Wang Yi said that the tradition that Chinese foreign ministers start their overseas visits every year with a trip to Africa has continued for 34 years. This is unparalleled in the history of international exchanges. It is so because China and Africa are brothers treating each other with sincerity and sharing a common future. China and African countries have fought shoulder to shoulder against imperialism and colonialism. They have supported each other in pursuit of development. They have always stood for justice in a changing international landscape. Since the start of the new era, President Xi Jinping has put forth the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and called for taking the right approach to friendship and interests. The endeavor of building a China-Africa community with a shared future has thus been steered onto a fast track. China has remained Africa’s biggest trading partner for 15 years straight, and the pie of China-Africa cooperation is growing bigger. The Chinese and African people are feeling closer to each other.

Wang Yi said that the Global South, including China and Africa, is growing fast and profoundly shaping the course of world history. African countries are experiencing a new awakening. Models imposed from outside have brought Africa neither stability nor prosperity. African countries need to explore development paths suited to their national conditions and keep their future and destiny firmly in their own hands. In this new historical process, China will continue to stand firmly with our African brothers and support an Africa that is truly independent in thinking and ideas. China will assist Africa in building capacity for self-driven development and support faster modernization in Africa.

China always holds that Africa should not be marginalized. While China-Africa cooperation thrives, other major countries have again turned their eyes to Africa. China welcomes that. China hope that, like itself, all sides will pay greater attention to Africa and increase input to support Africa’s development. China stands ready for more trilateral and multilateral cooperation on the basis of respecting the will of Africa.

Wang Yi said that the next meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in China this autumn. Chinese and African leaders will gather in Beijing again after six years to discuss future development and cooperation and exchange governance experience. He believes that through this summit, China and Africa will enhance their long-standing friendship and deepen unity and collaboration to open up new vistas for faster common development and start a new chapter for a China-Africa community with a shared future.