
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is a collective dialogue mechanism between the People’s Republic of China and African countries in the context of South-South cooperation, established in 2000. The purpose of the forum is equality and mutual benefit, equal consultation, enhancing understanding, expanding consensus, strengthening friendship, and promoting cooperation.
The members of the forum include the People’s Republic of China, 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, and the African Union Commission.
In order to further strengthen the friendly cooperation between China and African countries in the new situation, jointly address the challenges of economic globalization, and seek common development, under the joint initiative of China and Africa, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – Beijing 2000 Ministerial Conference was held in Beijing from October 10 to October 12, 2000, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was officially established.
Foreign ministers, ministers in charge of foreign cooperation or economic affairs, as well as representatives from some international organizations and regional organizations from 45 African countries attended the meeting.
The purpose of the first ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is to engage in equal consultations, expand consensus, enhance understanding, strengthen friendship, and promote cooperation.
The main agenda of the meeting is: how to promote the establishment of a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order for the 21st century, in order to safeguard the common interests of developing countries; How to further strengthen cooperation between China and Africa in substantive areas such as economy and trade under the new situation.
The first ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation adopted two historic documents, the Beijing Declaration and the China-Africa Economic and Social Development Cooperation Program.
Both China and Africa have decided to establish and develop a new type of partnership that is long-term, stable, equal, and mutually beneficial in the 21st century, and to establish the China-Africa Cooperation Forum mechanism.
The 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit was a summit between China and African countries, held in Beijing from September 4th to 6th, 2024, with the theme of “Joining Hands to Promote Modernization and Building a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”. Leaders of African members of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, representatives of relevant African regional and international organizations attended the summit related activities.
On the evening of September 4, 2024, President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan held a banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, welcoming African and international dignitaries who came to China to attend the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and taking a group photo to commemorate the occasion.
On September 5th, President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit and delivered a keynote speech titled “Joining Hands to Promote Modernization and Build a Community of Shared Future”.
On the same day, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation adopted the Beijing Declaration on Building an all-weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era and the Beijing Action Plan of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (2025-2027); On September 6th, 2024, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit officially came to an end.
The 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit is the fourth time that FOCAC has been held in the form of a summit, following the 2006 Beijing Summit, the 2015 Johannesburg Summit, and the 2018 Beijing Summit.
It is also the largest and most attended home diplomacy event by foreign leaders in China in recent years. This summit summarized the historical experience of China-Africa friendship, clarified the direction and implementation path of China-Africa joint efforts to promote modernization, and led the global South towards progress.
The China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Government of Hunan Province. It has been settled in Hunan for a long time and is held every two years.
This expo is a new platform for implementing the economic and trade measures of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and a new window for local economic and trade cooperation with Africa. The Expo, with the theme of “win-win cooperation and pragmatic promotion of China-Africa economic and trade relations”, focuses on trade, agriculture, investment and financing, cooperative parks, infrastructure and other fields, with a total exhibition area of 48000 square meters in eight exhibition areas.
The first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in Changsha, Hunan from June 27 to 29, 2019. A total of 84 cooperation agreements were signed between China and Africa, covering multiple fields such as trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, aviation, and tourism, with a total amount of 20.8 billion US dollars.
The 2nd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo opened in Changsha on September 26, 2021. The 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in Changsha, Hunan from June 29th to July 2nd, 2023.
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 10 JUNE 2025