24-06-2025
Building bridges in uncertain global times: China-Africa to consolidate historical cooperation
Research Associate Gideon H Chitanga.
Image: Supplied
While other major powers are closing their borders to immigrants, including students and academics who seek academic and professional development opportunities, China and Africa will broaden people-to-people exchanges in 2016 to consolidate strong economic and diplomatic cooperation.
Polarising global conflicts and economic instability fuelled by protectionist walls threaten to derail historical socio-economic gains of the previous century towards shared modernisation and development. However, deepened contacts amongst diverse cultures and civilisations could bridge polarisation, build bridges towards a more peaceful, stable global community, with mutually shared prosperity.
During the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2024, President Xi Jinping stated that the 'foundation and lifeline of China-Africa relations lie with the people. Therefore, the development of our relations should be more people-oriented.' He further said that the two sides (Africa and China) agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China has unveiled a concept paper enunciating a major thrust towards consolidating people-to-people diplomacy with Africa.
The China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges will bring together African and Chinese youths and women, paving the way for intercultural learning to foster mutually shared awareness and cooperation. This will allow the mostly marginalised groups to develop relationships and trust at personal and societal levels, promoting peace, cultural diffusion, mutual respect and understanding, which contributes to stronger mutually beneficial international cooperation and development.
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The initiative is anchored on key pillars such as young leaders, Culture kaleidoscope, Livelihood Boosters, Symphony of ideas and Talent Incubators. Participants in a wide range of planned activities will be drawn from youths, women, the media and think tanks. The involved parties will engage in a wide range of activities that involve diverse communities and sectors, focusing on education, culture, tourism, publishing, sports, science and technology, people's livelihood, and green development.
Chinese and African youths will attend such events as the China-Africa Youth Festival, the China-Africa Youth Culture Forum, the China-Africa Future Leaders' Dialogue, and the China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The initiative will culminate in the establishment of the China-Africa Youth Space Alliance, and increased visits by young African political party leaders and government officials to China for study trips and multilateral exchanges.
The youths will also participate in the seminar on Poverty Reduction and Development for African Officials, paving the way for cooperative facilitation of city-to-city youth and women cooperation. The involvement of young people with the FOCAC Poverty Reduction and Development Conference will position them as major drivers of the '100 Medical Teams in 1,000 Villages' programme.
The initiative further catalyses the cooperation of young people and women in health, poverty reduction, public welfare, livelihoods, and the well-being of people with disabilities as drivers of mutual understanding, peace and development. It utilises diverse cultural experiences, tourism, film and television, publishing, sports, tech- internet mediated social entrepreneurship, academic and intellectual gestation amongst other spheres to promote mutual development, understanding and appreciation between Africa and China.
African youths will be able to learn from the historical modernisation and governance of China, which has continued as the fastest-growing major economy for decades. China has achieved a remarkable feat in poverty reduction over the past four decades, lifting about 800 million people out of extreme poverty, representing roughly three-quarters of the global reduction in extreme poverty.
Beijing, whose success is attributed to a combination of economic growth, targeted poverty alleviation programmes, and social safety nets, could provide crucial skills to African youths through knowledge sharing, opening employment opportunities and raising incomes on the continent.
Africa faces the highest extreme poverty rates globally, with 23 of the world's 28 poorest countries on the continent facing extreme poverty rates above 30%. High unemployment rates have driven women and youth to the margins of the national and global economy. While Africa has abundant natural resources, the continent lags at the margins of tech-driven innovation and sluggish economic growth and development.
China is leading rapid technological innovation across various sectors, such as AI, electric vehicles, aerospace, and green technologies. Beijing has made significant investments in research and development, focusing on strategic emerging industries with a strong emphasis on integrating technology into daily life and business operations.
The China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges will channel talent resources utilising tech incubation to drive modernisation through strengthening exchanges and cooperation in education, vocational training, women's empowerment, ICT and AI technologies.
With the help of governments and supportive private sectors, African youths could translate their appetite for consumption of new technological products, which accounts for a booming tech market on the continent, to learning new soft skills, which could turn them into producers of new technologies, and tech-driven products and services.
Seminars on Chinese Modernization and African Development, the China-Africa Friendship Organization Leaders Meeting whose delegates will be drawn from the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council will provide important platforms for exchanges of ideas, and foster synergies with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a free trade area formed by the African Union (AU) to create a single market for goods and services across the continent.
At a time when neo-liberal capitalism is in deep crisis, Beijing has entered the golden age of innovation as a global leader in the development of quantum computing, high speed trains, 5G technology, solar Energy, Artificial Intelligence (AI), E-commerce, space programmes, mass transportation networks, blockchain technology and facial recognition technology.
