Community of Shared Destinies

　　Since 1991， all of China’s foreign minister shave traveled to Africa on their first yearly tripabroad. Continuing this long held tradition， WangYi set out for Ethiopia， Djibouti， Ghana and Senegalfrom January 6 to 11. The 24-year-long tradition confirmsthat China’s cooperation with African countriescontinues to be the foundation of its foreignstrategic thinking.

　　The Chinese Government has long attached greatimportance to Sino-African cooperation. In March2013， Xi Jinping visited Africa in his first visit abroadafter being elected Chinese president. During thevisit， he put forward the principles of “sincerity， realresults， affinity and good faith” in deepening China’scooperation with Africa， and noted that “China andAfrica have always been a community of shareddestinies.”

　　Foreign Minister Wang visited four African countriesthis year primarily to implement the achievementsmade by Xi during his 2013 Africa visit andfurther reiterate and illustrate China’s Africa policy.Upholding justice

　　After the establishment of the Forum on China-AfricaCooperation (FOCAC) in 2000， especially after theFOCAC Beijing Summit in 2006， Sino-African cooperationhas maintained rapid development， pushingthe bilateral trade value from $10.6 billion in 2000to nearly $200 billion in 2012. Since 2009， Chinahas been Africa’s largest trading partner. China’sinvestment to Africa also grew from $490 million atthe end of 2003 to $14.7 billion in 2011， coveringvarious fields such as mining， finance， manufacturing，construction， tourism， agriculture and fishery.

　　China has become an important impetus pushingAfrica’s economic development， contributing morethan 20 percent to the continent’s economic growthevery year.

　　However， despite the rapid development incooperation， many problems have emerged. On theone hand， China’s going-global strategy faces newchallenges in Africa. Chinese workers in Africa facethe risk of being kidnapped， and conflicts and warsin some African countries also force Chinese workersand overseas Chinese to leave， leading to hugeeconomic losses. On the other hand， while makinggreat achievements， the going-global strategy hasalso led to a lot of problems in operation. Theseproblems have resulted in the arrest of Chinese goldminers in Ghana， and some Chinese businesspeoplesqueezing the business space of African retailers.Targeting these phenomena， Western media havewasted no time blaming and criticizing Sino-Africancooperation， asserting that China is engaged in socalled“neo-colonialism” in Africa.

　　These problems in China-Africa cooperation havedrawn the attention of the Chinese Government.

　　While visiting Africa， President Xi proposed a newoutlook on justice and interests in Africa.

　　Wang elaborated on the new outlook during hisvisit. Talking to the media after meeting with hisSenegalese counterpart， Mankeur Ndiaye， on January10， Wang said that taking the correct approachof upholding justice and seeking mutual interestsis a banner of China’s diplomacy. According to him，China has prioritized treating African countries onan equal footing and promoting the legitimaterights and reasonable appeals of the African people.China will never embark on the colonialists’ road ofplunder so as to achieve mutual development andcommon prosperity with Africa， Wang said.

　　Africa’s security affairs

　　In general， Africa’s security situation has remainedstable in recent years. However， conflicts flared up insome regions in 2013， including Mali， east DemocraticRepublic of the Congo， the Central AfricanRepublic， South Sudan and Nairobi， Kenya， where aterrorist attack claimed the lives of 67 people.

　　South Sudan is the youngest country in Africaand only won independence in 2011. After manyyears of civil war for independence， the country isin urgent need of peace and stability for nationalreconstruction. But unexpectedly， the country becamemired in conflicts at the end of 2013.During Wang’s visit to Ethiopia， hemet representatives from both warringparties of South Sudan in AddisAbaba on January 6， conveying China’sconcerns. He hoped that the warringparties could put an immediate halt tothe conflict for the long-term benefit ofSouth Sudanese people so as to maintainlaw and social order and seek reasonablesolutions through negotiations.

　　Later， while talking to Al Jazeera， a Qatar-based TV channel， Wang put forwardfour-point suggestions toward solving theconflict in South Sudan： First， a ceasefire should takeeffect and violence be stopped immediately， so as tomake way for peace talks and maintain law and orderin the country； second， it is imperative to launchan inclusive political dialogue process as soon aspossible and find a solution acceptable to both sides；third， the international community should intensifyefforts for peace talks， urging both sides to engagein serious peace talks； and fourth， it is important toimprove the humanitarian situation in South Sudan.China has always played the role of a responsiblepower on peace and security issues in Africa and isan active participator in this regard. In light of theUN resolutions and related international laws， Chinasent 16 escort fleets to the Gulf of Aden and Somaliwaters to escort vessels. China also participated in15 UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. So far， thereare more than 1，800 Chinese peacekeepers on thecontinent. China has dispatched the largest numberof peacekeepers among the five permanent membersof the UN Security Council.

　　At the Fifth FOCAC Ministerial Conference in2012， China also launched the Initiative on China-AfricaCooperative Partnership for Peace and Securityto deepen cooperation with the African Union (AU)and African countries in peace and security in Africa.

　　African renaissanceThanks to the strengthened cooperationbetween emerging economies andAfrica， the continent has been maintainingrapid economic development inthe 21st century. In the first decade ofthe century， six out of the 10 countrieswith the fastest economic developmentworldwide were in Africa. The internationalcommunity also has a positiveoutlook on the continent’s futuredevelopment， regarding it as a “hopefulcontinent.” Africa’s opportunities havebeen increasingly discovered by the outsideworld. With the continent reachingunity on self-improvement，moreand more Africanpoliticians havegained confidencein the Africanrenaissance.

　　Wang reiteratedChina’s affirmationof supportingthe Africanrenaissance on hisAfrica tour， addingthat China wouldbe committedto joining handswith Africa to fulfilltheir renaissancedreams. Whileaddressing themedia after his talkwith his Ethiopiancounterpart TewodrosAdhanomon January 6 inAddis Ababa， Wangsaid that the 1.3billion Chinese people are working hard to realizetheir Chinese dream， and more than 1 billion Africanpeople are struggling for their African dream of unity，self-improvement， development and renaissance.China would like to join hands with Africans in fulfillingtheir dreams.

　　Supporting the African renaissance mainly relieson mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. Inthis sense， Wang stressed on several occasions thatChina would like to deepen its pragmatic cooperationwith African countries in an all-round way withfocuses on infrastructure construction， agricultureand the manufacturing industry. These are the areaswhere China should strengthen mutually beneficialcooperation with Africa. In addition， efforts should bemade to support cooperation in improving people’slivelihood in Africa.

　　African integration

　　African integration is the necessary road of theAfrican renaissance. Africa has 54 countries with 15having no access to the sea. Some African countriesare quite small in size. Against this backdrop， onlythrough integration can African countries be betterdeveloped and fulfill their dream of the Africanrenaissance.

　　One of the advantages of African integration isthat pan-Africanism has a long history and has maintainedwide support on the continent. While visitingGhana， Wang fully affirmed pan-Africanism， notingthat as a friend of Africa， China understands andsupports pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism essentiallymeans self-confidence， self-support and self-improvementwith the goals of unity， development andrenaissance. This is Africa’s development orientation，as well as the trend of the era.

　　The AU has been playing a positive role in theprocess of African integration. At the 18th AU summitheld in February 2012， AU countries agreed tomake the continent a free trade zone by 2017. Atthe current stage， the AU is encouraging the plan oftransnational infrastructure construction， aimed atpromoting African integration through the infrastructuresthat connect various countries. The plannedpan-African road network totals 56，683 km， includingthree horizontal and six vertical transnational roads.So far， 35 percent of the road network has been built.

　　China has strengthened its support to the AU inrecent years. In January 2012， the AU ConferenceCenter， the largest China-built construction projectin recent years， was completed， and China also announcedaid worth 600 million yuan ($100 million) tothe pan-African organization in the next three years.In Wang’s visit to Ethiopia， he specially visited thecenter， and noted that the AU Conference Center isanother monument for China-Africa friendship.

　　China’s active participation in infrastructureconstruction in Africa shows its solid support to thecontinent’s integration. To date， China has launchedeffective cooperation with African countries in infrastructureconstruction. At the Fifth FOCAC MinisterialConference， the Chinese Government proposed tosupport Africa in achieving connectivity and integrationand developing more integrated infrastructure.

　　According to the conference’s agreements， Chinaand the AU would establish a cooperative partnershipin the design， inspection， financing and managementof projects under the Program for InfrastructureDevelopment in Africa and the PresidentialInfrastructure Championing Initiative.

　　In addition， China has proposed to provide a creditline of $20 billion to African countries to mainlysupport the development of infrastructure， agriculture，manufacturing， and development of small andmedium-sized enterprises in Africa in 2013-15.

　　The African renaissance mainly depends on theself-independence and hard work of African people.

　　However， assistance and cooperation from theinternational community are also very important.China’s cooperation with Africa is not exclusive. Chinais open to the international community’s cooperationwith Africa and hopes that all parties can worktogether and play a positive and constructive rolein promoting peace， security and development inAfrica.

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