On August 27, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping replied to a letter co-signed by 63 scholars from 50 African countries, encouraging them to continue providing intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the Global South.
Paul Frimpong (Photo: Xinhua)
Paul Frimpong, executive director of the Africa-China Center for Policy and Advisory, a Ghana-based think tank, was one of the 63 African scholars who signed the letter. He told Southern Metropolis Daily, N-video on September 3 that the Africa-China Dar es Salaam Consensus highlights the shared commitment of Africa and China to exploring development paths that are appropriate for countries of the Global South.
Frimpong pointed out that it was hoped that through this consensus, Africa-China relations would continue to deepen and that both sides would promote global poverty reduction, economic growth, and sustainable social development through shared experience and mutual understanding.
The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is being held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. Leaders of China and over 50 African states, as well as representatives of African regional and international organizations, have once again gathered in Beijing to discuss friendship and the future, to draw a new blueprint for the common development of China-Africa relations, and to write a new chapter of solidarity and cooperation in the Global South.
Frimpong praised FOCAC as a promising platform to emphasize and demonstrate the stability of China-Africa relations, especially in the current international situation that is full of uncertainty. He also noted that the FOCAC summit would focus on important areas such as economic cooperation and sustainable development in the broader context of deepening trade agreements, building and improving the technology transfer system, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
In recent years, Guangdong and African countries have continued to deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, with Guangdong-Africa imports and exports accounting for about 13.7 percent of total China-Africa trade in 2023.
"Guangdong has always maintained a leading position in trade and has obvious advantages in foreign trade, and its openness and internationalization have also helped promote Africa-China trade," Frimpong said. Guangdong's position as a strong trade province has facilitated the exchange of goods, technology, and investment between the two regions, promoting the development of trade relations with African countries and deepening Africa-China economic interdependence.
He also noted that Guangdong has established itself as an international platform and is increasingly playing an important role in strengthening Africa-China relations by organizing large-scale international conferences.
Reporter | Liang Lingfei from Southern Metropolis Daily, N-Video
Editor | Xiang Xueni, Liang Lingfei, Xiao Yue, He Jiahui from Southern Metropolis Daily, N-Video, Nina, James
