OP-ED: Africa’s value rediscovered via cooperation

President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan are welcomed by Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and his wife Salma Kikwete upon their arrival in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 24, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held from Friday to Saturday this week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the summit, as well as paying state visits to Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is another important gathering of foreign cooperation to be held on its own land, which shows the breadth and depth of Sino-African collaboration.

Cooperation between China and Africa is growing rapidly despite Western public opinion continuing to pour cold water on us. Figures can be the best illustration in this regard. Trade between the two sides exceeded $220 billion in 2014, which left trade volume between the West and Africa far behind.

If there is something that makes the West jealous about China, it must be the latter's economic cooperation with Africa. Many Western countries were once colonial masters of the continent, and have still retained their influence in the region. But now they have belatedly realized that their investment and trade in Africa lags behind. In the meantime, they are not accustomed to the magnificent achievements of Sino-African cooperation.

As matter of fact, there is no secret about the enormous strides made in this collaboration.

China has always treated African countries as equal partners, respecting them, while firmly sticking to the reciprocal and win-win principle in its cooperation with Africa.

The West on the other hand has been treating Africa from a position of dominance, with a strong motivation to transform the area economically and politically through aid. It asks the continent to follow its lead. It is hard for this cooperation between the two sides to keep pace with the times.

Now, major Western nations have sensed the urgency of competing with China over Africa. It is welcomed by African countries. China's leading position has become a new spur to the West, which is turning Africa from a forgotten land to a new favorite. The continent's value in trade, investment and geopolitics has been rediscovered among major powers.

China is not afraid of competition in Africa. The win-win trade principle is not exclusive, and can always lead to new clues and fields of joint programs. The more Africa cooperates with the outside world, the more stable and wealthy it will be, and the more cooperative chances China will find. It is hence really superficial when Western public opinion calculates and splits hairs over who can get more.

Since the first FOCAC was held in Beijing in 2006, Japan, the US, and Europe have all followed Beijing in organizing leaders' summits with African countries.

The trend proves that China has done it right. Chinese should cherish this hard-earned state of affairs, as well as embrace the future innovation and uncertainties in its cooperation with Africa. 

Sources: Global Times and People’s Daily