As the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding, the African continent is confident in its steady and continued development thanks to its robust partnership with China.
The 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC holds great significance for Africa, as the two sides have been closely bonded together on their path to modernization outlined at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing early in September.
Wu Peng, the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, addressed a reception held by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Sept 26 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.
"President Xi Jinping announced a six-point proposal on China-Africa joint pursuit of modernization and 10 partnership actions for the next three years. The Chinese government will provide financial support on this front as well, which will inject the new and the strong impetus into deepening China-Africa cooperation and leading the modernization of the Global South," said Wu.
China, the world's second largest economy, has played a major role in Africa's growth. Significant collaboration in areas such as infrastructure, technology and energy has accelerated Africa's development. And for South Africa, more cooperation between the African country and China is on the horizon.
"We are ready to encourage more Chinese companies to invest and start business in South Africa, especially to strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green energy, and AI," said Wu.
"The improving relationship, especially coming out of this recent FOCAC, signals a big shift, a big shift in South-to-South relations, a big shift in terms of prospective investments and development for the Global South. So the Global South is, indeed, rising and it's aided in part by this strong relationship," said Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher of the Institute for Global Dialogue.
China has also pledged a further 50 billion U.S. dollars in financial aid for Africa as the continent aspires to realize a free trade area.
"You need to produce in order to benefit from the free trade area. You need investment in manufacturing. You need investment in logistics to move the goods. China has significant expertise in all of these areas, whether it be investment, whether it be project management, industrialization, and so on. So there's a lot to potentially benefit from a relationship with China in this particular regard," said Kubayi.
New, strong vigor in China-Africa cooperation boosts development of Global South
