adminUnder the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (Focac), the two parties already share friendly relations that have seen trade increase tremendously over the past decade from about US$10 billion in 2000 to more than US$160 billion in 2011.
Chinese investment in Africa has also grown from US$490 million in 2003 to about US$14.7 billion in 2011, while people-to-people visits are also increasing.
Speaking ahead of the 5th Focac summit set for 1920 July in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said the conference will review the implementation of followup activities from the 4th ministerial conference held in 2009, as well as examine and adopt the “Beijing Declaration” and “The Beijing Action Plan (20132015)”.
The Beijing declaration and the action plan will “define new coopera-tive programmes to be undertaken over the next three years,” to strengthen socio-economic develop-ment in China and Africa, Chinese Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hong Lei said.
The ministerial meeting of Focac is expected to chart a new course of deeper cooperation between China and Africa, covering many of the same sectors, with a special focus on regional integration and on youth.
The Focac ministerial meeting is one of three highlevel forums established by Chinese and African leaders at their inaugural summit in 2000. The other two meetings between the Asian nation and African countries are senior officials meetings and conferences of the Chinese Focac Followup Committee with African diplomatic missions accredited to Beijing.
At the last summit held in Sharm elSheikh, Egypt, in November 2009, China and Africa agreed on a number of resolutions, which proclaimed the establishment of a new type of strategic partnership. — sardc.net
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