Beijing summit to push China-Africa cooperation to higher level
By Zhang Penghui, Zou Song and Ji Peijuan from People’s Daily
Focusing on building a closer community of shared future between China and Africa, the upcoming 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is expected to set a new path for a higher-level of China-Africa cooperation, Chinese experts and scholars told People’s Daily.
The meeting will also give a boost to bilateral people-to-people bonds, they added ahead of the summit to be held on September 3 and 4, which is eagerly awaited by the international community.
“The notion that China and Africa have always been a community of a shared future proposed by President Xi Jinping well defines the history and future of China-Africa relations,” said An Huihou, China’s former Ambassador to Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.
China is the world’s largest developing country, and Africa is a continent with the largest concentration of developing countries. The two sides have similar historic conditions and realistic demands and share a common future and a common stake in that future, he added.
China always provides Africa with selfless assistance and support, An pointed out, believing that China’s reform and opening up has made tremendous development achievements in the past 40 years, and African countries are more willing to learn from China’s successful experience in development and national governance.
Against the backdrop of mounting protectionism and unilateralism, China-Africa cooperation will help the two sides cope with global challenges and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, An said, adding that the Beijing Summit will open up a boarder space for building a closer China-Africa community of a shared future.
China has realized rapid economic development driven by reform and opening up, and Africa has gained more support from China, said Li Xinfeng, Deputy Director of the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Li said that China and Africa have witnessed a comprehensive, stable, healthy and rapidly developing relationship and registered fruitful results especially in the field of infrastructure construction over the past 18 years since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
China and Africa share similar historic backgrounds and development goals. The FOCAC as an institutionalized platform for the development of China-Africa ties will press ahead together with the Belt and Road Initiative and provide a broad platform for China-Africa cooperation, Li said.
He also gave suggestions on the docking of the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of African countries, saying that in order to satisfy the needs of different countries, the alignment should be differentiated according to the characteristics and situations of involved nations.
In this way, the Belt and Road Initiative will provide more impetus for the development of African countries, Li stressed.
China-Africa cooperation represented by the ten cooperation plans covering various fields has gone deeper in recent years, said Zeng Aiping, deputy executive director of the China-Asian African Cooperation Center at the China Institute of International Studies.
The Beijing Summit will continue to focus on Africa’s development in such fields as infrastructure construction, investment and financing, power and energy, and industrial park construction, said Zeng, adding that these cooperation priorities are also areas that African countries need to improve.
China-Africa cooperation will help Africa break the bottleneck of development and provide personnel and financial support for Africa, Zeng said, pointing out that the mutually beneficial China-Africa cooperation will be further deepened as a 2019-2021 action plan to be approved at the Beijing Summit covers various aspects including peace and security, people-to-people exchanges and development.
China and African countries, both as developing countries, have many things in common, said Zeng who is looking forward to closer exchanges in national governance between the two sides.
He said that the successful experience of China’s development can provide reference for African countries, such as how to formulate and implement national development plans, build efficient governments, make predictable policies, properly handle the relationship between reform, development and stability, create a sound business environment, and construct industrial parks.
推动中非合作迈向更高水平
人民日报记者 张朋辉 邹 松 暨佩娟
当前，人们普遍对即将于9月3日至4日举行的中非合作论坛北京峰会寄予热切期望。接受本报记者采访的国内专家学者认为，着眼于构建更加紧密的中非命运共同体，中非合作论坛北京峰会将制定中非合作朝着更高水平迈进的新路径，奏响中非人民心手相连亲如一家的新旋律。
“习近平主席关于‘中非历来是命运共同体’的论述十分准确地点明了中非关系的历史与未来。中国是世界上最大的发展中国家，非洲是发展中国家最集中的大陆，双方有着类似的历史境遇和现实渴求，命运休戚与共。”中国前驻阿尔及利亚、突尼斯、埃及大使安惠侯认为，长期以来，中国给予非洲无私援助和支持。中国改革开放40年来取得巨大发展成就，非洲国家更希望借鉴中国发展的成功经验和治国理政方略。在当前保护主义、单边主义势力抬头的背景下，中非合作有利于双方共同应对全球挑战，实现互利共赢。相信中非合作论坛北京峰会将为打造更加紧密的中非命运共同体开辟广阔空间。
中国社会科学院西亚非洲研究所副所长李新烽认为，在改革开放的推动下，中国经济取得快速发展，非洲也得到了中国更多支持。中非合作论坛成立18年来，中非关系进入全面、稳定、健康、迅速的机制化发展轨道，特别是在基础设施建设领域成果丰硕。中国与非洲有相似的历史遭遇、共同的奋斗目标。作为中非关系机制化的发展平台，中非合作论坛与“一带一路”倡议双轨并行，共同推进，为中非合作提供了广阔平台。把“一带一路”倡议与非洲国家的发展战略进行对接时，要针对每个非洲国家具有的不同特色与不同的实际情况，进行差异化的战略对接，满足不同国家的不同需要。这样，“一带一路”倡议为非洲国家的发展提供的动力就会更足。
中国国际问题研究院中国—亚非合作中心执行副主任曾爱平表示，近年来，中非合作走向深入，以中非“十大合作计划”为代表，涵盖各个领域。中非合作论坛北京峰会将继续聚焦非洲的发展，包括基础设施建设、投融资、电力能源、工业园区建设等，这些既是双方合作的重点，也是非洲国家亟待发展的领域。中非合作有利于非洲打破发展瓶颈，为非洲在人才、资金等方面提供支持。中非合作是互利共赢的，将要通过的《中非合作论坛—北京行动计划（2019—2021年）》涵盖和平与安全、人文交流、发展等各个方面，是中非合作深化的体现。
曾爱平期待中非在治国理政等方面展开更加紧密的交流。他说，中国与非洲国家都是发展中国家，有很多共同点，中国发展的成功经验可为非洲国家提供借鉴，比如，执政党制定国家发展规划并予以落实，高效的政府、可预期的政策以及正确处理改革发展稳定的关系、营造良好的营商环境、建设工业园区等。中非政党还可以开展更多交流，这将有助于非洲更好发挥“后发优势”。
