On February 15, Chinese President, Xi Jinping, sent a message to the 38th African Union Summit, extending warm congratulations to African countries and the people.
President Xi pointed out that as the world is experiencing great changes and disorder, the Global South, represented by China and Africa, keeps growing in strength. Over the past year, the AU has rallied African countries to vigorously promote integration within the continent, stand up to regional and global challenges and make the unified voice of Africa heard.
This has ensured the continuous rise of Africa’s international standing and influence. He sincerely wished African countries and peoples new and even greater success in their independent pursuit of development and revitalisation.
President Xi stressed that in 2024, China-Africa relations enjoyed robust growth. The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), was successfully held. The two sides have ushered in a new stage of jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and continued to be at the forefront in building a community with a shared future for mankind.
He was ready to work with African leaders and 10 partnership actions to deliver more tangible benefits to the over 2.8 billion people in China and Africa.
President Xi has sent congratulatory messages to the AU Summit for 13 years since 2013. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, President Xi’s congratulatory message to the convening of the Summit has always arrived with the promised hour.
The congratulatory letter fully demonstrates China’s high attention paid to AU and China-Africa relations, China’s firm confidence in and solemn commitment to jointly implementing the outcomes of FOCAC Beijing Summit and building an all-weather China-Africa Community with a shared future for the new era, which will inject fresh impetus into developing China-Africa friendship and deepening mutual-beneficial and win-win cooperation.
China and African countries are old, close and true friends. China-Africa relations have been the backbone of South-South cooperation and a good example of handling international relationship.
China has so far established strategic partnership with all African countries, which have diplomatic ties with China. Meanwhile, the overall characterisation of China-Africa relations has been elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future.
China has been Africa’s largest trading partner over the past 15 years in a row, and one of the main providers of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). By the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Africa had exceeded $40 billion. Africa is China’s second-largest overseas project contracting market.
The past decade has witnessed an accumulated revenue of over 400 $billion to the Chinese companies in Africa. The basic infrastructure of African Continent has been continuously strengthened by a series of constructed mega-projects, such as the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria, Solar Photo-voltaic Power Plants in South Africa, Kafue Gorge Lower Hydroelectric Power Station in Zambia and Fangjuni Bridge in Senegal.
The overall installed capacity of PV power plants co-built by China and Africa has surpassed 1.5 gigawatts, lighting up thousands of households on the African Continent.
The year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the foundation of FOCAC and the first year of implementing the outcomes of FOCAC Beijing Summit. By seizing the opportunity of the Coordinators’ Ministerial Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and 70th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic relations in 2026, we hope to reap the early harvest of FOCAC Beijing Summit.
We will deliver more concrete results from ‘Ten Partnership Actions’ by putting into place, the zero-tariff treatment on 100 per cent taxable items, improving China-Africa network featuring land-sea links and integrated development, delivering 1000 ‘small and beautiful’ livelihood projects and optimising the mechanism for China-Africa trade and investment cooperation.
All these efforts will provide a broader market, more applicable technologies and more stable investment for African countries in their modernisation.
The world is experiencing great changes and disorder, full of uncertainty and instability. Unilateral bullying and beggar-thy-neighbour practices instigate widespread apprehension in the international community but one thing is for sure, no matter how the international landscape evolves, China’s original aspiration remains unchanged.
China will always be the most trustworthy friend of African brothers and sisters, most reliable partner in their pursuit of modernisation, and their strongest supporter on the world stage. China has, and will always put Africa into the top agenda of China’s diplomatic positioning.
China will as always, together with African countries on the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and the principle of pursuing greater good and shared interests, push China-Africa Comprehensive Partnership into a new height, building an all-weather China-Africa Community with a shared future for the new era and write a new chapter of mutual understanding, affinity, trust and benefits.
Dunhai is Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria.
