ConsolidatedPoliticalMutualTrust
Frequenthigh-levelreciprocalvisitshavetakenplacebetweenChinaandAfricasincetheJohannesburgSummit.Inearly2016,ChineseForeignMinisterWangYifollowedthediplomaticpractice(initiatedin1991)ofstartingtheNewYearwithatourofcountriesontheAfricancontinent,andvisitedMalawi,Mauritius,Mozambique,andNamibia.Shortlyafter,inMarch,ZhangDejiang,chairmanoftheStandingCommitteeoftheChineseNationalPeople鈥檚Congress(NPC),wenttoZambia,Rwanda,andKenya.InApril,YuZhengsheng,chairmanoftheNationalCommitteeoftheChinesePeople鈥檚PoliticalConsultativeConference(CPPCC)paidanofficialgoodwillvisittoGabon,IvoryCoast,andGhana.WangYiwenttoAfricaasecondtimeinAugusttovisitKenyaandUganda,andlastNovemberChineseVicePresidentLiYuanchaovisitedSouthAfrica,Ethiopia,andDjibouti.SeveralstateleadersofAfricancountries,inturn,visitedChinain2016,andattendedvariousinternationalandbilateralconferences.NigerianPresidentMuhammaduBuharicametoChinainApril,TogolesePresidentFaureGnassingbeinMay,andRepublicofCongoPresidentDenisSassouNguessoinJuly.InSeptember,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingmetwithSouthAfricanPresidentJacobZuma,SenegalesePresidentMackySall,EgyptianPresidentAbdel-Fattahal-Sisi,andChadianPresidentIdrissDebyItnoattheG20SummitinHangzhou.InOctober,PremierLiKeqiangmetwithPrimeMinisterofMozambiqueCarlosAgostinhodoRos謾rio,whowasinChinatoattendtheForumforEconomicandTradeCooperationbetweenChinaandPortuguese-SpeakingCountriesheldinMacao.GuineanPresidentAlphaCondevisitedChinaattheendofNovember,andPresidentoftheRepublicofGabonAliBongoOndimbacameinearlyDecember.Moreover,high-levelleadersofAfricancountries,notablySouthAfricanPresidentJacobZumaandBeninesePresidentPatriceTalon,activelyparticipatedinthesecondInvestinginAfricaForumconvenedlastSeptemberinGuangzhouCity.
AlsoworthmentioningisthatChina,ashostofthe2016G20Summit,tooktheinitiativetobuildaplatformanddesignagendasfortheevent.Thecountryproposed鈥渟upportindustrializationinAfricaandleastdevelopedcountries鈥漚sanimportanttopicfordiscussion,andwasthefirsttoincludethistaskintheG20Leaders鈥機ommuniqu茅.ChinathusprovidedaplatformforAfricancountriesandG20memberstocommunicateandconductexchanges.BesidesSouthAfrica,whichisaG20member,ChinaalsoinvitedChad,whosepresidentcurrentlychairstheAssemblyoftheAfricanUnion;Senegal,whosepresidentisthechairpersonoftheNewPartnershipforAfrica鈥檚Development(NEPAD);andEgypt,animportantcountryinNorthAfrica,totheG20Summit.Insodoing,ChinaunderlinedthegreatimportanceitattachestoAfrica鈥檚development,andprovidedAfricancountrieswithopportunitiestohaveasayonimprovementstoglobalgovernance.
DeepenedEconomicCooperation
GrowingmutualpoliticaltrustbetweenChinaandAfricahaslaidfirmfoundationsforthetwosidestoincreasetradeandeconomiccooperation.Overthepastyear,theChina-Africaeconomicandtradecooperationhasbeentransformedandupgraded.OnJuly29,theCoordinators鈥橫eetingontheImplementationoftheFollow-upActionsoftheJohannesburgSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperationwasconvenedinBeijing.Themeetingledtothetwosides鈥檚igning63cooperationagreementswithatotalcontractvolumeofUS$18.287billion,ofwhichdirectinvestmentandcommercialloansfromChineseenterprisestoAfricaamountedtoUS$16.228billion,accountingfor88.74percentofthetotalvalue.Accordingtoincompletestatistics,sincetheconclusionoftheJohannesburgSummit,ChinaandAfricahavesigned245cooperationagreementsthatinvolveatotalamountofUS$50.755billion.ThevolumeofdirectinvestmentandcommercialloansfromChineseenterprisestoAfricaexceededUS$46.553billion,accountingfor91.73percentofthetotal.China鈥檚aidtoAfrica,however,amountedtojust1.07percent,anditspreferentialloansto6.24percent.ThischangeofstructureshowsthatChina-Africacooperationhasundergoneatransformation鈥揻romgovernmentaidtoinvestmentandbusinessfinancing;frommerchandisetradetoindustrialcapacitycooperationandprocessingtrade;andfromcontractingprojectstoinvestmentandfinancialcooperation.
Overthepastyear,China-AfricaeconomiccooperationontheAfricancontinentshiftedintotopgear.OnOctober5,2016,theChinese-builtEthiopiaDjiboutirailwaylinkingAddisAbaba,capitalofEthiopia,totheRedSeaportofDjiboutibecamefullyoperational.WithatotalinvestmentofaroundUS$4billion,ithasatotallengthof752.7kilometers.TheEthiopia-Djiboutirailway,togetherwiththepreviouslybuiltAbuja-KadunarailwayinNigeriaandtheBenguelarailwayinAngola,intheircapacityasmaintransportationmodes,areintegraltoAfrica鈥檚burgeoningindustrialization,andprimeexamplesofChina-Africacooperationonindustrialcapacity.
TheEthiopia-DjiboutirailwayisanothercrossborderrailwaythatChineseenterpriseshavebuiltinAfricasincecompletingtheTanzania-ZambiaRailway(TAZARA).Thelinehasslashedthelogisticcostsofimportsandexportsandstreamlinedfreighttransportationbycuttingthetraveltimebetweenthetwocountriesfromsevendaysto10hours.Therailwayisexpectedtoboostbothcountries鈥檚ocial,economic,andindustrialdevelopment,anditsinaugurationisconsideredamilestoneinAfricancountries鈥檙oadtoindustrialization.
Unlikepreviousprojects,ChinesecompaniesinvolvedintheAddisAbaba-Djiboutilinewillberesponsibleforthesubsequentoperationalmanagementafteritscompletioninthecomingsixyearsasatransitionperiod.Duringthattime,theChinesecompanywillhelptotrainlocaltechniciansandmanagementprofessionals,soenhancingthetechnologicalandmanagementcapacityofEthiopiaandDjibouti.ThismarkedChina鈥檚firstexportationofanentirerailwayindustrialchain,coveringfinancing,construction,andoperateration.
Chinacannowensuresaferailwayoperationsandgeneratemoreeconomicandsocialbenefits.Meanwhile,betterdemonstrationsandtrainingwillbeachievedduringthesix-yeartransitionperiodthroughactualoperationsinEthiopiaandDjiboutiwhichwillbringabouttechnologicaltransformationsandlaysolidfoundationsforindependentrailwayoperations.Therailway鈥檚constructioncreatedmorethan3,000jobopportunitiesforlocalpeople,afigurethatroseto16,000afteritbeganrunning.Theseworkersarethefirstinthetwocountriestobeskilledintheoperationofmodernelectrifiedrailways.
TheAddisAbaba-DjiboutiRailwaypatternhasdrawnattentionthroughoutAfricaandtheworldasawhole.CountrieslikeUganda,Rwanda,SouthSudan,Togo,andKenyahavesentdelegationstostudytheprojectandaccumulaterelevantexperienceandaccordinglyformulatedomesticrailwayplanning.
OnOctober5,2016,theChinese-builtEthiopia-Djiboutirailwaybecamefullyoperational.ChineseconductorDingJihuahuggedanEthiopianattendant.Overthepastyear,ChinahassteppedupeconomicandtradecooperationwithTanzaniaandEthiopia.Theyhavesignedproductioncapacitycooperationframeworkagreementsandhavealsoconfirmedagroupofkeycooperativeprojects,includingrailwayrenovations,aK3naturalgaspowerstation,andpowertransmissionandtransformationfromDaresSalaamtoArusha.Ofthe64ChineseenterprisesthathaveenteredEthiopia鈥檚EasternIndustrialPark,31havestartedproduction,withatotalinvestmentofUS$220million,creatingmorethan8,000jobopportunities.
DynamicPeople-to-peopleExchanges
People-to-peopleandnon-governmentalexchangesareeffectiveapproachestoconsolidatingthepublicandsocialbasisofSino-Africanrelations,andtoguaranteeingtheirlong-termandsustainabledevelopment.TellingtheChinesestoryandintensifyingmediaintercommunicationisvitaltoChina-Africapeople-to-peopleandnon-governmentalexchanges.Since2014ChinahasthroughtheChinaAfricaPressCenterprojectinvited1,000Africanmediaworkerstothecountryeachyeartotakepartina10-monthtrainingcourse.ThisgivesthesereporterstheopportunitytounderstandChina,improvetheirnewsgatheringandeditingskills,andrecordpersonalobservationsandreflections.InMarch2016,22AfricanreporterswhohadtakenpartintheprojectattendedChina鈥檚annualNationalPeople鈥檚CongressandChinesePeople鈥檚PoliticalConsultativeConference.TheywereregardedbyFrenchmediaasthejournaliststheChinesegovernmentmostwelcomed.
Moreover,sincebeingfoundedin2011theChinaAfricaThinkTankForum(CATTF),amajorSinoAfricannon-governmentalexchangeplatform,hasbeenamainvehicleforscholarsofthetwosidestopublicizeactualinstancesofSino-Africancooperation.ThefifthCATTFtookplaceinYiwuofZhejiangProvinceinApril2016andhelddeepdiscussionsonSino-AfricanproductioncapacitydevelopmentandAfricanindustrialization.InAugust2016,theChinaAfricaMedia&Think-TanksSymposiumwasheldintheportcityofMombasa,Kenya.Morethan150thinktankandmediarepresentativesfrom20countries,includingChina,Kenya,SouthAfrica,Senegal,Tanzania,Nigeria,Morocco,andEgypt,tookpart,andvisitedtheMombasa-NairobiRailway,thenunderconstruction.
ConstantlyenhancedSinoAfricanpoliticalandeconomiccooperationandpeople-and-peopleexchangeshavehadencouragingimpactonfundamentalpublicopinion.China鈥檚influenceinAfricancountriesisrapidlygrowing,andtheoverallresponsetoitispositive.Accordingtothewell-knownAfrobarometerpollheldinOctober2016,ofthe54,000peopleinterviewedfrom36Africancountries,themajoritythoughtthatChinahadapositiveimpactontheircountry.Morethantwothirdsofintervieweesalsothoughtthateconomicactivities,especiallyinvestment,wereakeyelementofbuildingandimprovingChina鈥檚imageamongAfricancitizens.AssistanceandsupportfromChinaforthecontinent鈥檚developmentalsowonthecommendationofmorethan80percentoflocalresidentssurveyedfromNigeria,Liberia,andCameroon,and91percentfromMali.Expansionofnon-governmentalexchangesisindeedagradualoilingprocessthatbringstruetransformation.
HEWENPINGisaresearchfellowwiththeInstituteofWestAsianandAfricanStudiesatChineseAcademyofSocialSciences.