China’s Partnerships with Countries in the African Region: A Shared Cooperation for Social and Economic Development

Abstract

This paper focuses on “China’s 70-Year Development and the Construction of the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” with reference to China- Africa economic partnerships. China-Africa relations have existed for many decades and being characterized by mutual socio-cultural and economic partnerships. Closer cooperation in the 1960s came at the time a number of African countries were struggling to get their political independence from colonial powers. Currently, China engages many countries on the African continent on a broad range of diplomatic forums, trade, and economic projects. In this paper, an overview of China-Africa economic development cooperation is provided by reflecting on a number of engagements such as the China- Africa Consultative Forum (CACF) that targeted debt relief, peacekeeping operations, and cheap loans linked to infrastructure development and related areas of cooperation. Also, the Cairo Meeting initiative on China-Africa agricultural cooperation and food security and infrastructure construction as well as the China-Africa Business Council that looked at global financial crisis on China-Africa commercial relations are presented. Chinese trade and foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa is also highlighted. At the end, examples of the cooperation with African countries that China has big investments in are described. The examples provided show a mutual economic cooperation between China and African countries for the benefit of community social and economic development. It is recommended that African leaders use a more strategic approach to make the best use of the China-Africa relations.