China and Africa have learned from each other with the help of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and witnessed buoyant interaction. Since 2000, China has trained about 40,000 people in various professions and provided more than 20,000 scholarships to African students. Forty universities in China and Africa have established 20 pairs of cooperation partners under the “China-Africa Universities 20 + 20 Cooperation Project.” China has moreover set up 29 Confucius Colleges and Classrooms in Africa in efforts to enable African people to learn about and appreciate Chinese culture.

More than 20 companies signed eight investment and economic cooperation projects, involving a total sum of US $341 million, at the Fourth Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, which was held at the same time as the Fifth Ministerial Conference. The projects include institutional cooperation, finance, aviation and agriculture, mainly in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Yuan Li, deputy governor of the National Development Bank, said at the conference that the China-Africa Development Fund, established in June 2006, has promised to invest as much as US $2 billion in Africa, which will elicit US $10 billion of investment from Chinese enterprises.

Deeper, Broader Cooperation

In the coming three years China will provide a US $20 billion credit line to African countries – triple what it previously pledged. The Chinese government will act in five priority areas to support peace and development in Africa and promote a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. Such action includes setting up the “African Talents Program” to train 30,000 personnel in various sectors, offering 18,000 government scholarships, and sending 1,500 medical workers to Africa. China will also help African countries enhance capacity building in meteorological infrastructure and forest protection and management.

These are part and parcel of the measures the Chinese government will take in the next three years to promote strategic partnership between China and Africa. Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh observed in an interview that this course of action reflects China’s willingness to strengthen its bond with the African continent.

He Wenping, director of the African Research Office of the Institute of West Asia and Africa of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, regards these upcoming measures as signifying a change in the modes of cooperation between the two regions. “China has adjusted its focus on aid to Africa,” Ms. He said. “We will help Africa to construct such infrastructure as buildings, roads and bridges, and also to create a good social and cultural environment of benefit to ordinary people.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the FOCAC opening ceremony that there is great potential for the relationship between China and Africa to work together on poverty reduction, capacity building and green economy initiatives. In line with the five priority areas specified at the FOCAC, China will expand its assistance in setting up agricultural technology demonstration centers to help strengthen agricultural production capacity, and continue the drilling projects that will provide more people with potable water. These projects can help reduce poverty among local residents and also increase their self-development capacity.

“While in southern Africa last year, I found that China-Africa cooperation was both prospering and welcomed by locals,” China’s special envoy to the Middle East Wu Sike said. “It has brought real benefits to local communities, including agricultural development.” Wu concluded by saying that cooperation should be deepened in such areas as science and technology, new energy and international affairs.