The latest visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the African continent will open up a new chapter of China-Africa relations, especially in terms of implementing the outcomes of the 2024 Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), said an expert.
Wang has embarked on a visit to four African nations - Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Chad - marking the 35th consecutive year that the Chinese foreign minister has chosen Africa as the destination for his first overseas trip of the year.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Cliff Mboya, a research fellow of the Afro-Sino Center of International Relations, talked about the significance of the trip and how the relations have been continuously enhanced after the FOCAC Summit last year.
"This has been a tradition, the foreign minister makes his first official trip every year to an African country, so there's no particular criteria. I think the main aim is to consolidate the diplomatic relations that China has with the continent. So there's no particular order. We've seen an intensification of not just diplomatic, but economic and political relations with the continent. Over time, China has been gradually enhancing its diplomatic relations with the continent, and last year was pivotal because we had the Beijing FOCAC meeting and first of all the relationship was enhanced to a strategic level. It means that we are moving into new forms of engagement," Mboya said.
"So we see a lot of coordinations. Africa's long-term development plans are being put into consideration. We are seeing China aligning with the Agenda 2063 (proposed by the African Union) for example. So I think those elements will come out very strongly. We are seeing an emphasis on sustainability and green development. And I think last year was very pivotal because Africa came out very strongly to make clear what they expect from China. And we saw China responding with these promises and this plan. So I think Wang Yi's visit will be instrumental in the fact that some of those will be set into motion in the 2025-2027 action plan," he said.
This year will see the start of implementing the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027).
According to the plan, China and Africa will in the next three years implement 10 partnership initiatives for joining hands to advance modernization for China and Africa. They cover the areas of mutual learning between civilizations, trade prosperity, industrial chain cooperation, connectivity, development cooperation, healthcare, rural revitalization and people's wellbeing, people-to-people exchanges, green development, and common security, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Chinese FM's Africa visit to further enhance China-Africa relations: expert
