Ruzivo Media & Resource Centre Trust
In a few months, African countries, including Zimbabwe, descend on the Chinese capital, Beijing for the 9th Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit.
This summit, a gathering of 53 countries (except Eswatini) and the African Union Commission hosted by China is significant in shaping relations between the two sides and setting the agenda for the next six years.
By design, it is one of the biggest multilateral events, with huge international significance on geopolitics and strategy.
China is the largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the highest number of developing countries.
The two sides have strong historical affinities and have in recent times grown stronger bonds through practical cooperation and win-win outcomes.
China and Africa relations have become a model theatre for the praxis of the idea of a community with a shared future for mankind, significantly Africa being the first region where the philosophy was practiced.
The community with a shared future for mankind was introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, which is 11 years ago, inspired by the Chinese approach of building mutually beneficial, win-win co-operation with all countries of the world to achieve harmonious, peaceful development and coexistence based on true multilateralism.
It is a unique approach that takes into account various political, social and economic imperatives, which President Xi has deftly weaved into a tapestry of ideas and initiatives that seek to unite the world, with China providing leadership without necessarily seeking hegemonism or global dominance.
As demonstrated in a white paper published in 2023, China-Africa community with a shared future bears huge significance.
First proposed as a regional framework, China-Africa community with a shared future values sincerity and equality, pursues both friendship and interests and puts friendship first, takes a people-oriented approach in pursuing practical and efficient co-operation, and follows an open and inclusive approach to co-operation.
But one has to go back slightly to December 1, 2017, when President Xi Jinping gave a keynote address at the Communist Party of China Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting (Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu PF participated, and continues to participate in these platforms).
He explained that, "...a community with a shared future for mankind means that the future of each and every nation and country is interlocked."
People of the world were "in the same boat", that they should "stick together"; "share weal and woe, and endeavour to build this planet of ours into a single harmonious family..."
Months later, during the 2018 FOCAC summit, President Xi explained that China had followed the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests.
He explained that China had stood with African countries and worked in unity and forged ahead.
"To respond to the call of the times, China takes it its mission to make new and even greater contribution to mankind,"
He explained that China would work with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind, forge partnerships across the world, enhance friendship and co-operation, and explore a new path of growing state-to-state relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win co-operation.
"Our goal is to make the world a place of peace and stability and life happier and more fulfilling for all," said President Xi
Quoting a Chinese saying that, "The ocean is vast because it rejects no rivers", he said China and Africa shared a common stake and would work together to achieve our shared goal of building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future and turn it into a pacesetter for building such a community for mankind.
He then proposed six major ways in which the two side could build a China-Africa community with a shared future -- and a number of these practical ways have been effected over the years.
These include increase in political and policy dialogue at various levels, enhancing mutual understanding and support on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns, and boost co-ordination on major international and regional issues; win-win co-operation and complementarity between respective development strategies between Africa and China.
Among other practical interventions, China pledged to do more to help Africa alleviate poverty, pursue development, increase employment and income, and better the lives of its people, undertake exchanges, mutual learning and harmonious co-existence of the two sides' civilisations through more people-to-people exchanges in culture and art, education, sports, and between think tanks, the media, and women and young people.
President Xi also proposed supporting African countries and the African Union as well as other regional organisations in the continent in solving African issues in the African way, and supporting the African peace initiative of "Silencing the Guns" which is about ensuring peace and preventing outbreaks of war. Lastly, China is open to helping Africa to pursue green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable development as well as climate change, clean energy, prevention and control of desertification and soil erosion, protection of wildlife and other areas of ecological and environmental preservation.
Fruitful FOCAC: locating Zimbabwe in the matrix
FOCAC has been an immense success over the years, and there is no doubt that this year's edition will register more success.
This success is anchored on China attaching huge importance to the mechanism which, as highlighted above, is a founding block for the concept of global community of a shared future.
Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister in 2020, explained that China attached great importance to the Forum's role in drafting overall plans and providing strategic guidance, while at the same time giving equal attention to China's ties with each FOCAC member, so that the Forum mechanism and bilateral co-operation can complement each other in forging a strong network of partnerships between and among countries.
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"The forum has significantly increased the international profile of China-Africa relations, and has become a pacesetter for South-South co-operation and for co-operation by the international community with Africa," Wang said.
Zimbabwe is right there within China-Africa community with a shared future matrix.
The two sides have over the years seen increased trade and investments as well as high quality investments in the country. Chinese investments constitute the highest source of FDI. China has also assisted Zimbabwe through energy, transport, communications, water and health infrastructures which have helped the Southern African nation to improve its economy and livelihoods of the people.
China has also assisted Zimbabwe by providing skills in agriculture through demonstration sites which will promote food security and improve livelihoods while it has also assisted Zimbabwe through emergency relief in drought, floods and the Covid-19 disasters.
On people to people exchanges, Zimbabwe has seen its citizens provided with more opportunities to learn from China through exchange and educational visits while Chinese investments and immigration has seen skills being transferred to locals by Chinese people.
Ruzivo Media & Resource Centre Trust is a registered think tank organisation that analyses and creates platforms for the discussion of global and local issues with focus on creating understanding and leading thinking on innovative solutions and knowledge.
