合作解决更多问题

2018年9月3日在北京召开的中非合作论坛上，中国国家主席习近平在其主旨演讲中宣布，中国将在今后三年乃至更长的时间里在非洲国家中实施八大行动计划，它们涉及到产业促进、基础设施互联互通、贸易便利化和绿色发展，南非对此表示由衷地欢迎和拥护。

非洲与中国在历史上的关系
非洲与中国的关系有着悠久绵长的历史。无可争辩的证据表明，早在公元前200年，当时中国还是汉朝时，就与非洲通过丝绸之路间接地实现了货物交换。中国明朝初期绘制的一幅地图是世界上第一幅出现非洲大陆的地图，它清晰地标明了维多利亚湖的位置。明朝时期，中国伟大的航海家郑和率领一支由200多艘船只和27000多名船员组成的舰队完成了七下西洋的远征。根据记载，他曾四次抵达非洲东海岸，即现在坦桑尼亚、肯尼亚和索马里所在的位置。
说到南非与中国的关系，虽然两国正式建交只有20年的时间，但事实上，南非与中国的关系可以追溯到15世纪。在位于南非林波波省北部的马普努古布韦世界遗产地的档案里就可以找到当时两国贸易的记载。
值得一提的是，中国和非洲大陆的人口总数占全球人口的三分之一，而且在过去的15年里，它们的增长速度是世界最快的。
2015年12月在约翰内斯堡召开的中非合作论坛峰会上，非洲与中国的战略伙伴关系被升级为全面战略合作伙伴关系。这种伙伴关系建立在政治平等和相互信任的基础上，目的是为了促进合作共赢。中国是非洲大陆最大的贸易伙伴，预计到2030年，贸易额将达到1.7万亿美元。
自2000年中非合作论坛成立以来，中国与非洲的合作已经结出了丰硕的成果。它已经成为了南南合作的成功范例，并且引起了全世界的关注。
在2018年中非合作论坛北京峰会上，经过中国与非洲国家的深入沟通和探讨，确立了下面五项重大发展目标：
1）加强非洲与中国的战略共识，巩固双方团结合作的政治基础；
2）促进经贸合作，进一步构筑中非全面战略合作伙伴关系；
3）为未来关系的发展规划方向，努力把中国和非洲建成一个共享未来的更强大的共同体；
4）采取更有针对性和更有效的措施，使非洲的自然资源、人口红利以及市场潜力与中国的投资协调一致；
5）努力得到国际社会对非洲与中国友好合作的理解和支持，并将其作为南南合作的典范予以认可和推广。

南非在中非合作论坛中的作用
南非很荣幸能够成为中非合作论坛的联席主席。自2012年7月中非合作论坛第五次部长级会议在北京举办以来，南非就担任了这一职位。从那时开始，南非与中国一道举办了几次重要会议，包括非洲驻华大使、高级官员、协调员和部长级会议以及2015年在约翰内斯堡召开的中非合作论坛第二次峰会，它是论坛峰会首次在非洲大陆举行。
南非认为中非合作论坛是中国和非洲国家间进行贸易与投资协商的重要平台。自2000年成立以来，中非合作论坛已经举行了六次部长级会议和两次峰会，每一次会议都促成了许多对投资和贸易发展意义重大的项目。中非合作论坛不仅成为了中非合作的引领者，而且作为南南合作最大和最具成效的合作平台，它也获得了国际社会越来越多的关注，因此吸引到世界其他地区对非洲的投资。
过去18年里，中非之间的务实合作收获了丰硕的成果，而且随着中非合作论坛和南南合作的影响力不断增强，中非关系也取得了巨大进展。中国与非洲在众多重要领域的合作都得到了加强，包括工业化、农业产业化、基础设施建设、绿色发展、减贫、公共卫生、贸易和投资便利化、人文交流以及和平与安全。中国与非洲国家间的贸易额已经从2000年的106亿美元增长到2017年的1700亿美元。同一时期，中国对非洲的直接投资也从5亿美元上升到超过410亿美元。一些非洲国家即将参加2018年11月5日至10日在上海举办的国际进口博览会，预计它将有助于非洲国家在这个世界第二大经济体国家中获得贸易和投资的机会。

中国的发展经验对非洲起到的示范作用
作为一个发展中国家，中国深知在当下矛盾重重的全球治理体系下生存和发展的艰难，因此它非常愿意与包括南非在内的非洲国家交流发展经验，分享发展机遇，实现包容性发展。非洲与中国的合作伙伴关系源于双方都渴望为各自的人民创造一个繁荣美好的未来。
中国在非洲参与的基础设施项目旨在提升和完善非洲的基础设施状况，包括道路、铁路和电信系统，从而带动非洲制造业的发展。这些项目被视为是规则的改变者，因为它们使创新型经济在非洲大陆大规模展开，刺激非洲经济根据其自身发展目标实现了快速增长。
中国参与建设的项目还释放了非洲各国的国内资源，从而满足了医疗保健和教育等其他关键领域的需求，也对非洲大陆的营商环境起到了推动作用。
中国正在与非洲国家发展更加平衡、多样化和对双方都有利的商业关系。中国与非洲大陆的总人口占到世界人口的三分之一，并且是过去15年里全球增长速度最快的区域。
过去20年里中国对非洲的贸易和投资激增，表现出它对非洲大陆的极大兴趣。虽然目前双方的贸易仍然是以中国向非洲出口产成品和从非洲进口资源性原材料为主导，但中国对非洲一些国家的直接投资已经开始涉足制造业、媒体、房地产和服务行业。

非洲机构在双方合作中所起的作用
中国与非洲国家在经济和力量方面的不对等导致双方间的关系被指责为是新殖民主义。对非洲与中国伙伴关系持怀疑态度的人士对非洲与中国在金融领域合作的加深以及中国在非洲日益增长的影响力深感担忧。由于中国现在是非洲基础设施项目的主要融资国，因此，中国正在利用债务获得地缘政治杠杆，使非洲国家最终陷入无力支付泥潭的说法甚嚣尘上。这一说法设想中国政府通过债务陷阱外交故意诱使非洲政府落入债务圈套，而且中国还有一个不怀好意的计划，即通过让非洲大陆被其债务所裹挟，从而获得对非洲经济和地缘政治的掌控。
但事实真相是，非洲国家完全能够自由地做出决定，并在与中国的交易中获得对自己最为有利的结果。在参与比如中非论坛这样的机构管理时，非洲机构是会在其框架和文件中发表自己的观点和想法的。比方说，在中非合作论坛成立初期，对非洲的工业化关注很有限。但是，2015年非洲联盟通过了2063议程，它是非洲可持续发展的蓝图，此后情况发生变化。2015年12月在约翰内斯堡举行的中非合作论坛峰会上，工业化的议题被多次提及。2016年，中国担任了20国集团轮值主席国，非洲工业化又成为了集团峰会上的一项关键议题，而且中国让非洲大陆得到了20国集团前所未有的关注。
到2018年的北京峰会时，有关工业化的意向声明已经很少被提及了，因为它已经纳入了非洲和双边规划的过程中，这次峰会讨论的是为工业化筹措发展资金这一具体事项。
这清楚地表明，在工业化方面双方已经从意向声明转向了更为具体的实施举措。虽然这并不能保证非洲能够很快实现工业化，但它的确显示出中国对非洲发展议程的关注，并且立即做出了积极回应。
南非认为，一些批评人士所断言的中国与非洲之间的商业伙伴关系是带有剥削性质的“新殖民主义”不仅是无稽之谈，而且会对外界产生误导作用。事实上，非洲与中国的许多合作协议已经实现了双赢。而且非洲国家也正在与中国发展更加平衡、多样化、对双方都有利的商贸关系。
另一方面，债务陷阱外交的说法也没有反映出中国与非洲各国之间关系的复杂性。南非认为这样的论断是对非洲与中国伙伴关系的怀疑，而这恰恰流露出他们对中国鼓励自己的企业走出去，在全球范围投资这一政策的担忧。
有必要指出的是，参与非洲发展项目的并不只有中国政府，许多中国的跨国公司和中小企业也直接进入了非洲市场，自行与当地的企业展开了合作经营。

结语
中国是非洲大陆的重要盟友，而且在过去九年里一直是非洲最大的贸易伙伴和最重要的投资国之一，中国赴非洲旅游的游客也是最多的。同时，非洲拥有丰富的自然资源和人力资源，并且具有巨大的发展潜力。因此，可以说非洲是最有可能成为未来世界经济发展新驱动力的大陆。
目前非洲在发展中遇到的阻碍主要体现在三个方面，即基础设施落后、缺乏专业技术人才和资金以及加速工业化进程和实现自身的可持续发展所需的经验和支持。南非希望未来中非合作论坛能够探讨出解决这些问题的机制。
2018年在北京召开的中非合作论坛进一步密切了非洲与中国的关系，也为双方讨论包括一带一路倡议在内的务实合作机制创造了条件。它为中非互利合作注入了新的强大动力，也必将推动中非全面战略伙伴关系迈上新台阶。

South Africa heartily welcomed the announcement by President Xi Jinping at the Forum of China/Africa Cooperation in Beijing on 3 September 2018 that China will implement eight major initiatives with African countries in the next three years and beyond, covering fields such as industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, and green development.

Africa/China relationship historic

The Africa/China relationship is historical and ancient. There is incontrovertible evidence that as early as 200 BC, China, which was in the Han Dynasty at that time, exchanged goods indirectly with Africa through silk roads. A map drawn up in the early Ming Dynasty of China was the first map in the world that depicted Africa, in which Lake Victoria was clearly marked. In the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Zheng He, China’s greatest navigator, led a fleet composed of over 200 vessels and more than 27 000 crew members and carried out seven maritime expeditions to the Western Seas. It is reported that he reached four times the eastern coast of Africa, where current Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia are located.
With regard to South Africa/China relations, they are formally only twenty (20) years old. However, in fact the South Africa/China relations date back to the fifteenth (15th) century as reflected in the archival evidence of trade with China in South Africa’s Mapungubwe world heritage site in the northern Limpopo province of South Africa.
It is worth noting that China and the African continent collectively contain a third of the global population and have recorded the fastest growth rates in the world over the past fifteen (15) years.
At the Johannesburg Summit of FOCAC in December 2015, the Africa/China strategic partnership was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership. The partnership is based on, inter alia, political equality and mutual trust, and promoting win-win cooperation. China is the African continent’s biggest trading partner with the trade volume set to reach an estimated US$1.7 trillion by 2030.
Since the establishment of FOCAC in 2000, China-Africa cooperation has yielded fruitful results. It has become a successful example of South-South cooperation and has attracted world attention.
It is worth noting that the five major goals of the 2018 Beijing FOCAC Summit, have been co-determined through intense interaction between the two sides in both China and Africa were the following:
(a) strengthening the strategic consensus between Africa and China so as to consolidate the political foundation of unity and cooperation of the two sides;
(b) promoting economic and trade cooperation and further build the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership;
(c) chart the course for developing future relations and to build a stronger community of a shared future between China and Africa;
(d) take more targeted and effective measures to align Africa’s natural resources and demographic dividends and market potential with China’s investment;
(e) foster global support and understanding of Africa/China friendship and cooperation, as well as appreciation for the Africa/China partnership as an exemplary model of South-South cooperation.

South Africa on FOCAC
South Africa was privileged to be a co-chair of FOCAC. South Africa had assumed the co-chair position of the at the FOCAC 5th Ministerial Conference in Beijing in July 2012, and during this period co-chaired with China, several meetings including the African Ambassadors in Beijing, Senior Officials, Coordinators and Ministerial Meetings and hosted the 2nd FOCAC Summit in Johannesburg (2015) the first Summit to take place on African soil.
South Africa regards FOCAC as the premier platform through which trade and investment is mediated between China and African countries. Since its formation in 2000, FOCAC has evolved through six Ministerial Meetings and two Summits, each of which led to a growing portfolio of development projects that have led to significant growth in investment and trade. FOCAC has become a pacesetter in China-Africa cooperation, a champion for greater international attention to and input in Africa, and the largest and most effective South-South cooperation platform in the world.
The past 18 years have seen fruitful progress in China-Africa practical cooperation across the board. Since the establishment of FOCAC, the ties between Africa and China have witnessed huge progress with increasing influence of FOCAC and South-South cooperation. Cooperation between China and Africa strengthened in major areas as industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, infrastructure, green development, poverty alleviation, public health, trade and investment facilitation, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, peace and security. The trade volume between China and Africa has risen from US$10.6 billion to US$170 billion from the year 2000 to 2017. China’s outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock in Africa has soared from US$500 million to more than US$41 billion in the same period of time. I am aware that a number of African countries will participate in the international import-export expo fair that will be held in Shanghai on 5 to 10 November 2018. It is anticipated that the Shanghai Expo will help African countries explore trade and investment opportunities in the world’s second largest economy.

China’s development experience a model for Africa
As a developing country, China understands how difficult it is for a developing country to survive and thrive in the existing global system which is far from perfection and is ready to exchange development experiences and share development opportunities with African countries including South Africa to promote inclusive development. The Africa/China partnership is rooted in the desire to obtain prosperous future for our respective peoples.
FOCAC is by all standards an exemplary form of South-South cooperation. The Africa/China partnership is rooted in the desire to obtain prosperous future for our respective peoples.
China’s participation in infrastructure projects to build and improve infrastructure such as roads, railways and telecom systems have been a boon to Africa’s manufacturing sectors. These projects are regarded as game-changers which enable new economic activity on a significant scale that will stimulate Africa’s economic growth in line with the African continent’s own developmental objectives.
China’s projects to build and improve infrastructure such as roads, railways and telecom systems have been a boon to Africa’s manufacturing sectors; have freed up domestic resources for other critical needs such as health care and education; and have aided everyone doing business on the continent.
China and African countries are developing commercial ties that are more balanced, diversified, and beneficial to both regions. China and the African continent collectively contain a third of the global population and have recorded the fastest growth rates in the world over the past 15 years.
China’s surging trade and investment into Africa over the last two decades underpins much of the contemporary interest in its engagement with the continent. While trade is still dominated by Chinese exports of finished products and its imports of African resources, the investment picture in some countries is beginning to reflect Chinese foreign direction investment (FDI) into manufacturing, media, property and services.

African agency in the partnership
The economic and power imbalance between China and African countries has led to the relationship being criticised as neo-colonial. Sceptics of the Africa/China partnership have expressed misgivings about Africa’s deepening financial ties to China and China’s growing influence in Africa.  The emergence of China as a major financier of African infrastructure has resulted in a narrative that China is using debt to gain geopolitical leverage by trapping poor African countries in unsustainable loans. This narrative posits that African governments are being deliberately lured into debt by the Chinese government through debt trap diplomacy and that China has an ominous plan to mire the continent in debt in order to gain economic and geopolitical control of Africa.
The truth, however, is that Africa able to freely make its own decisions and negotiate for the best outcomes in its deals with China. African agency is expressed in the frameworks and documents that govern bodies like the forum. For example, in the early years of the FOCAC partnership, only limited attention to the issue of industrialisation. However, that changed after the formal adoption in 2015 of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which is Africa’s blueprint for sustainable development. Consequently, the forum held in Johannesburg in December 2015 saw an increase in how many times the issue of industrialisation was mentioned. By 2016, African industrialisation had become a key initiative of China’s presidency of the G20 and China directed an unprecedented level of G20 attention to the African continent.
By 2018, the Beijing Summit ended with fewer declarations of intent relating to industrialisation since it had become integrated into African and bilateral planning processes. In particular, industrialisation features regularly in discussions on development financing.
This clearly indicates that there has been a shift from declarations of intent to more specific engagement towards industrialisation. This might not necessarily guarantee the success of Africa’s industrialisation. However, it shows that China does respond to African agenda-setting.
South Africa views the assertion by some critics that China has an exploitative “neo-colonial” business partnership with Africa as both misleading and untrue. In reality, the Africa/China partnership has forged numerous win-win deals. African countries are developing commercial ties that are more balanced, diversified, and beneficial to both parties.
On the other hand, the debt-trap diplomacy narrative does not reflect the complexity of the relationship between the China and individual African countries. South Africa is of the view that the debt-trap narrative fits into a skeptical discourse about the Africa/China partnership and that such skepticism reflects their anxiety about China’s policy of encouraging Chinese firms to invest globally.
It is worth noting that the Chinese government is far from the only Chinese actor undertaking development cooperation projects in Africa. Many Chinese multinationals and small and medium-sized enterprises are entering African markets without Chinese government support and are directly partnering with local businesses.

Conclusion
China is an important ally for the African continent and has for the past nine consecutive years remained Africa’s largest trading partner as well as one of the most important investor, and source of tourists. On its part, Africa boasts vast natural and human resources and has huge development potential. Africa is a continent that is most likely to be the new driving force to promote future world economic development.
There are mainly three bottlenecks holding back Africa’s development, namely inadequate infrastructure; lack of professional and skilled personnel and funding shortage, accelerating Africa’s industrialisation as well as achieving sustainable self-development. South Africa hopes that the FOCAC Summit will discuss mechanisms on how these could be addressed.
The 2018 Beijing FOCAC Summit provided further impetus on the Africa/China relationship and  provided an opportunity for the two sides to discuss practical mechanisms of including Africa in the Belt and Road Initiative. It injected fresh and strong impetus into China-Africa mutually beneficial cooperation, and pushed forward the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.