By Liu Xuanzun

Source: Global Times

The Chinese Foreign Ministry holds a press conference on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018 Beijing Summit in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 22, 2018. Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the FOCAC 2018 Beijing Summit on September 3, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced at the press conference Wednesday. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will introduce new concepts and proposals for ties between China and Africa, and announce new actions and measures on practical cooperation with Africa during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing summit September 3-4, with Chinese experts saying that China will further cultivate Africa’s autonomous development capability and help boost modernization.

A media briefing hosted on Wednesday by Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave more insights on what to expect during the two-day summit.

Xi will deliver a keynote speech during the summit’s opening ceremony on the afternoon of September 3, in which he will make a comprehensive introduction to new concepts and proposals for ties between China and Africa, and announce new actions and measures on practical cooperation with Africa, focusing on industrial development, infrastructure, trade and investment, human resources development, science, educational, cultural, and health undertakings, environmental protection, and peace and security, Wang said.

Song Wei, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday the new set of proposals and measures are likely to be “based on the actual development needs of both sides, and further combine China’s development experience and African countries’ development potential.”

“This will further cultivate Africa’s autonomous development capability and help boost Africa’s modernization,” she said.

Wang said that the summit is expected to build a closer community of shared future between China and Africa, connect the Belt and Road initiative to African development, lay down a path for China-Africa cooperation at a higher level and boost friendship between the two sides.

Xu Weizhong, deputy director of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China and Africa share a similar history of being colonized and have the same goal of peaceful development.

Direct communication and cultural exchange are of importance as the Chinese and African peoples often only get information on each other via Western media, which could be twisted and not objective, Xu said.

The summit will see the signing of the Declaration of the Beijing Summit on building a closer community of shared future between China and Africa and the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2019-21) on September 4, Wang said.

The declaration will guide development of China-Africa relations in the next three years, Song said.