FOCAC summit to elevate China-Africa ties in pursuit of modernization, shared future: envoy

ADDIS ABABA -- The 2024 summit for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled for early September in Beijing, will inject vitality into China-Africa relations, jointly advancing modernization and building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, Hu Changchun, head of the Chinese Mission to the African Union (AU), said here Tuesday.

Addressing a press briefing on the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the 2024 FOCAC Beijing summit, Hu said the upcoming FOCAC summit is expected to further deepen solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa. He said the summit will make new contributions to promoting global modernization and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Hu said the 2024 FOCAC Beijing summit will be an event to celebrate China-Africa friendship, explore cooperation, and chart the course for the future under the theme of "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."

From Sept. 4 to 6, the forum will hold a series of activities including the opening ceremony, a welcoming banquet and a gala performance, high-level meetings, the Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, and bilateral meetings.

"China and Africa have always been focusing on cooperation to actively push forward the implementation of the outcomes of FOCAC, which has strongly promoted their common development, brought tangible benefits to the two peoples, and laid a solid foundation for the building of a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future," Hu told reporters.

He stressed that China, as "Africa's good friend, good partner and good brother," applies the principles of sincerity, real results, amity, good faith, and of pursuing the greater good and shared interests as its Africa policy.

"Over the past 11 years, China has stayed committed to these principles. Together with our African friends and drawing strength from the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, we have pressed ahead on the path of solidarity and cooperation, stood for justice amid shifting global dynamics, and looked out for each other in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic," Hu said. "We have taken China-Africa relations to new heights and entered the new stage of jointly building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future."

Responding to questions on the crucial role of FOCAC in terms of augmenting China-Africa relations, Hu emphasized that the close interaction between the two peoples has closely linked the Chinese dream and the African dream, writing the most vivid chapter of the China-Africa community with a shared future.

Under the framework of FOCAC, people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa have become increasingly close and fruitful, and have been an important pillar of the common aspiration for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, he said.

As of 2023, China has sent cumulatively 24,000 medical team members to Africa. A total of 45 medical teams are currently working at more than 100 sites in 44 African countries, according to the press briefing.

Amid the ever-expanding China-Africa cooperation in capacity building and talent development, Hu said China has established 67 Confucius Institutes and 10 Confucius Classrooms in Africa. A total of 16 Luban Workshops have been set up in 14 African countries, while more than 80,000 African students are studying in China.