African leaders have committed to jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era with the adoption of an action plan.
The action plan, to be implemented in the next three years, covers the areas of mutual learning among 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.
To ensure the successful implementation of the 10 partnership initiatives, China will provide Africa with 360 billion yuan ($50.69 billion) in the next three years. Per the action plan, China will grant duty-free treatment to 100% of the tariff lines of products from least developed countries with diplomatic ties with China.
China will voluntarily and unilaterally open its market wider. The move makes China the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a step and will help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity, Xi Jinping noted in his keynote speech.
With regard to infrastructure, China will build a multimodal sea-rail transport network that connects China’s central and western regions to Africa and deepen cooperation with the continent in local currency settlement and financial technology. This falls within the 30 infrastructure projects earmarked.
Also under the action plan, China will send 2,000 medical personnel and public health experts and 500 agricultural experts, implement 20 healthcare and malaria treatment programs, and 30 clean energy and green development projects, encourage Chinese businesses in Africa to create no less than 1 million local jobs, and provide 60,000 training opportunities with priority given to programs for women’s empowerment and youth development.
China will join hands with Africa to establish and implement a Global Security Initiative partnership by providing military grants, training military personnel and inviting African military officers to visit China and conduct exercises and patrols. Political experts hold that the elevation of the China-Africa relationship showcases the former’s determination and commitment to further align and develop its national strategies with African countries. Under the current international landscape, marked by geopolitical tensions and shifting alliances, FOCAC, with a mass gathering and fruitful results, emphasizes cooperation over confrontation, highlighting China as a key partner of Africa.
Claudette CHIN
