Inter-party Relations Promote Sino-African Strategic Partnership

Namibian leaders such as President Pohamba recounted the history of Sino-African friendship through their personal experiences and called on young leaders to carry forward the cause of Sino-African unity and cooperation. President Pohamba said it had been a long journey full of challenges – from 1955 in Bandung, to 2000 in Beijing, and 2011 in Windhoek. China has overcome many difficulties in promoting its cooperation with Africa, and has built up its prestige in Africa and made many friends.

In June 2012, the second China-Africa Young Leaders’ Forum was held in Beijing. Nearly 300 young leaders from China and 38 African countries attended. Chairman Jia Qinglin of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Namibia’s founding president Sam Nujoma were present at the forum. The participants had a spirited discussion themed on “China-Africa Cooperation and Youth Development” and reached extensive consensus. The forum concluded with the Beijing Declaration.

The forum is not only a venue for both sides to review traditional friendship, but also a platform to discuss new cooperation. Both sides agree that the forum should be held every three years, switching the location between Africa and China.

Practical Cooperation

Talks between Chinese and African parties cover both political and economic topics and are used to enhance economic and trade cooperation. Under the multi-party system in African countries, the ruling parties strive to win support from their people by performing well, and practical and fruitful cooperation with China through inter-party exchanges is to their advantage. The CPC also wants to strengthen Sino-African ties through promoting economic cooperation and trade.

The CPC leaders that head delegations to Africa contribute towards major cooperation programs. For example, Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, led a CPC delegation to visit Gabon in 2006 and brought about cooperation in the exploitation of iron reserves in Gabon. The total estimated investment of the project reached billions of US dollars. During his visit to Madagascar, he helped solve problems in Sino-Madagascan economic cooperation and trade.

In 2009 Zhou Yongkang led a CPC delegation to visit Sudan. He visited governments and enterprises from both countries which resulted in more than 10 cooperation agreements being signed.

In January 2012 Li Yuanchao led a CPC delegation to visit Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan, resulting in the signing of many cooperation agreements.

Economic and trade delegations are usually arranged to coincide with the CPC delegations’ arrivals and, with advance investigations and preparation, economic and trade delegations generally achieve concrete cooperation on their trips.

For example, Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Politburo and then secretary of CPC Hubei provincial committee, led a CPC delegation to visit Mozambique in 2005 and brought about cooperation on agriculture between Hubei Province and Mozambique. This ooperation has since expanded to other sectors such as mining and manufacturing.

Zhang Dejiang, a member of the Politburo and then secretary of the CPC Guangdong provincial committee, also led a CPC delegation and a large-scale economic and trade delegation to visit Africa in October 2004 and June 2007, and enterprises from Guangdong and Africa signed contracts worth US $2.4 billion and US $3.4 billion respectively.

Economic and trade cooperation is also promoted through multilateral forums that facilitate communication between Chinese and African enterprises. In recent years, the CPC has brought together many Chinese and African government officials and entrepreneurs at such forums. For example, in August 2010, the CPC held the China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Forum in Beijing. Over 130 representatives of political parties, enterprises and international institutes from 18 different African countries participated in talks about the opportunities and challenges of Sino-African agricultural cooperation, during which they reached extensive strategic consensus.

Political Foundation of  Sino-African Relations

The late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that the three pillars of Ethiopia-China relationship are the relations between governments, between political parties, and between the peoples of the two countries. He is not alone among African leaders in this view. This shows the importance of inter-party relations between China and Africa.

China and African countries belong to the same developing world, and the relations between their political parties are full of potency and promise. Inter-party interactions play to the practical needs of both sides as they lead their respective nations towards prosperity. Through inter-party communication, the CPC can form a greater understanding of Africa and improve its general communication with the continent, while the African political parties can learn from China’s development experience and build a better world themselves.