WhatdoesChina鈥檚reformandopeningupmeantoAfricancountries?WhatlessonscanAfricancountriesdrawfromChina鈥檚pathtodevelopment?TheseweresomeofthetopicsChineseandAfricanscholarsdiscussedattheSeventhMeetingofChina-AfricaThinkTanksForumconvenedinBeijingonJuly4.
Overthepast40years,China-Africaeconomicandtradecooperationhasachievedagreatleapindevelopment,withthetradevolumeincreasingmorethan200timessincethestartofChina鈥檚reformandopeningupinlate1978.ChinahasmaintaineditspositionasAfrica鈥檚largesttradingpartnerfornineyearsinarow,accordingtodatafromtheMinistryofCommerce.
Alsointhese40years,Chinahasachieveditsownrapiddevelopmentwithacommitmenttobuildingacommunitywithasharedfutureformankind.ReformandopeninguphasbeenagreatprocesswhereChinaandtheworld鈥攅speciallyChinaandAfricancountries鈥攈aveachieveddevelopmentandprogressedtogether,accordingtoexpertsatthemeeting.
Attheforum,governmentofficials,thinktankscholarsandmediarepresentativesfromthroughoutChinaandAfricaexpressedtheiropinionsonChina-Africamutualdevelopmentinthepastfourdecadesandhowtherelationshipcouldbefurtherstrengthenedinthefuture.Thefollowingisaneditedexcerptoftheirviews:
MohamedFayezFarahatMahmoud,SeniorResearcherattheAhramCenterforPoliticalandStrategicStudiesinEgyptChina鈥檚40yearsofreformandopeninguphavemaderemarkableachievementsthathaveattractedtheattentionoftheworld.Theexperienceprovedtobeinvaluabletodevelopingcountries,especiallyAfricancountries.
JustinYifuLin,CounseloroftheStateCouncilofChinaandDeanoftheInstituteofNewStructuralEconomicsatPekingUniversityWhenChina鈥檚reformandopeningupstartedinlate1978,SubSaharanAfrica鈥檚GDPpercapitawasmorethanthreetimesthatofChina.Atthattime,84percentofChineselivedonlessthan$1.25perday,theinternationalpovertystandard.
ThereasonwhyChinahasachievedsuchgreatsuccesssince1978isitschangingthoughtsondevelopment.Inthepast,inpursuingmodernization,Africancountriesusuallyacquiredexperienceandtheoryfromdevelopedcountries.ThecurrentsituationindevelopedcountriesandthatinAfricancountriesaretotallydifferent.
Infact,thepreconditionsfordevelopmentinAfricaaresimilartothoseinChina.Therefore,theexperienceaccumulatedduringthe40yearsofChina鈥檚reformandopeningupandthetheoryithasformedwillhavegreatervalueforAfricancountriesandotherdevelopingcountries.
Atpresent,infrastructureinmostAfricancountriesisrelativelypoor,makingitabottlenecktoeconomicdevelopment.Labor-intensiveindustrializationisakeypathtoprosperityandtheBeltandRoadInitiativewillnowbeanimportantopportunityforAfricancountriestosolveobstaclesandachieveindustrialization.
CharlesOnunaiju,DirectoroftheCenterforChinaStudiesofNigeriaChina鈥檚reformandopeningupallowsAfricatoseethefutureandhavehope.Inaddition,China鈥檚successisanimportantinspirationforAfricancountriestoseethatmodernizationhasmorethanonepath.
China-Africacooperationisamutuallearningprocess.TheBeltandRoadInitiativeproposedbyChinahasmaderelationsmoredynamic.ChinaandAfricawilltakeacandidapproachtodealingwiththeirchallenges.Theywillhavepositiveinfluenceinchangingtherulesofthegame.
LiuHongwu,DeanoftheInstituteofAfricanStudiesatZhejiangNormalUniversityTherapiddevelopmentofChina-AfricarelationsisaspecialwindowtoChina鈥檚reformandopeningup.Insomerespects,bilateralrelationshaveboostedChina鈥檚openinguptotheworld,whileAfricancountriesarealsopreparingforanewsteptowardopeningup.
BothChinaandAfricahaveuniquehistoricalandculturaltraditions.Itisofgreatimportanceforthemtounderstandeachotherandtofollowthepathsthatsuittheirowndevelopment.Atthesametime,themedia,scholars,academicsandthinktanksareshowingatrendtowardintegration.HowtheChineseandAfricanmediacanplaymoreofaroleinChina-Africacooperationisanimportantissueworthyofdiscussion.
LiYafang,PresidentofBeijingReviewChineseandAfricanmediashouldseekcommongroundandputasidedifferenceswhilerespectingculturaldiversity.TheyshouldincreasecooperationandexchangessoastopromotemutualunderstandingbetweenChinaandAfrica.PeterKagwanja,PresidentoftheAfricanPolicyInstituteinKenyaChinaandAfricaarefollowingtheirseparatenon-hegemonicandwinwinpathtodevelopment.However,infrastructureinvestmentmustbeprofitableandproductivetoavoidanunsustainabledebtburden.TheForumonChina-AfricaCooperationSummit,tobeheldinBeijinginSeptember,shouldemphasizetheneedforindustrialparksandalsoexaminewaystoavoidcorruptionandpoliticalpatronageinAfricanprojects.
ChenXiaodong,AssistantMinisterofForeignAffairs
ThedebtprobleminsomeAfricancountriesisduetomanyfactors.Itisacommonissuefacedbydevelopingcountriesandhasbecomepartofthegrowingpainsinthedevelopmentprocess.Thefundamentalsolutionstilldependsoneconomicgrowth.Weoftensaythatitisbettertoteachpeopletofishthantogivepeoplefish.ChinaiscooperatingwithAfricancountriestopromotetheirindependentdevelopmentcapabilitiesandisbuildingalargenumberofprojectsonthecontinentthatcouldbenefititseconomiesandpeople鈥檚livelihood.
ChenMingkun,ViceDeanoftheInstituteofAfricanStudiesatZhejiangNormalUniversityRelationsbetweenChinaandAfricancountriesinmanyfields鈥攊ncludingeconomy,culture,educationanddiplomacy鈥攁recurrentlyexperiencingrapiddevelopment.
AfricawillnotfollowtheChinesedevelopmentmodeldirectly,butwecanlearnfromeachother.WeshouldletmoreChineseknowtherealAfricaandalsoletAfricanpeopleknowChinaandhowChinahasdevelopedoverthepast40years.
ZerihunWoldu,VicePresidentofAddisAbabaUniversityinEthiopiaAlthoughAfricancountrieswillnotpursueChina鈥檚developmentstyleexactly,Chinaisaninspiration.Chinashowsthatdevelopmentcanbeachieved.
ThinktanksandthemediainChinaandAfricaneedtofindacommonvoiceandtellaboutthetrueChina-Africarelationshiptoenhancetheimageofbilateralrelations.Bothsidesneedtoimprovekeyskillsandcapacities,aswellasdevelopcommoninternationalethicalstandards.
ParticipantsattendtheSeventhMeetingofChina-AfricaThinkTanksForuminBeijingonJuly4XIAYUANYUANCopyeditedbyFranciscoLittleandRebecaToledoCommentsto