Chronicle Editor
African Heads of State and Government, including President Mnangagwa, are in Beijing, China for the Ninth Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac). The summit comes at a time when Africa’s ties with China are blossoming despite outside pressures to set the two allies apart. They have a long history of mutual respect and commonality of interest since Beijing helped dozens of African nations in their fight against colonialism in the 1960s and 1970s. From that political basis, their co-operation has expanded into the economic sphere. Below, we publish a summary of the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era that was released yesterday;
We, the Heads of State, Government and Delegations of the People`s Republic of China and 53 African countries and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, gathered in China from September 4 to 6 for the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Under the theme “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future,” the Summit adopted by consensus the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era.
Jointly Building a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future
We fully affirm that Chinese and African leaders advocate on various occasions visions and initiatives of building a community with a shared future for mankind, high-quality Belt and Road co-operation, the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI).
We call on countries around the world to work together to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity, promote global governance featuring extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, apply the common values of humanity, build a new type of international relations and jointly usher in a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress.
Africa commends China for supporting the launch of the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan. China is willing to strengthen co-operation with Africa in the priority areas identified by the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063.
We will jointly implement the important common understandings reached at the high-level meeting themed “Strengthening Governance Experience Exchanges and Exploring Development Paths to Modernisation.”
We believe that China and Africa joining hands in advancing their respective modernisation is the historic mission and the call of the times in jointly building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
China and Africa stand ready to enhance exchanges between countries, legislatures and governments and at sub-national levels, deepen experience sharing in such areas as governance, modernisation and poverty reduction, and support each other in exploring models of modernisation based on the characteristics of their own civilisations, development needs, science, technology and innovation.
It believes that the systematic plans drawn up at the session for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernisation will provide more development opportunities for countries around the world, including African countries.
China will continue to respect African countries’ political and economic choices based on their own national conditions and honour the principles of non-interference in African countries` internal affairs and non-attachment of political strings to assistance to Africa.
China and Africa will always honour the everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship and co-operation, characterised by sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefit and common development, fairness and justice and progress with the times and openness and inclusiveness, jointly build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
China reaffirms its firm support for Africa`s efforts to safeguard national independence and unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security and development interests.
Africa reaffirms its firm commitment to the one-China principle and reaffirms that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China`s territory and the Government of the People`s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and firmly supports all efforts by the Chinese government to achieve national re-unification. China supports African countries in increasing their influence and role in global governance, in particular, by requiring a more inclusive framework to address the world`s problems.
China believes that Africans are qualified to serve as heads of international organisations and institutions and supports their work.
Paraphraser, a AI application summarised the 5 200-word declaration for us
derick.khumalo