FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
China’s Wang Yi Previews FOCAC Summit, ‘A New Phase of China-Africa Development’
Aug. 22, 2018 (EIRNS)—Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlined the format and the program for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing, which will be held on Sept. 3-4.
The summit, which Wang Yi characterized as a “reunion of the China-Africa family” will have four major foci:
- it will renew the call for a shared future for China and Africa bound by their common interests;
- it will initiate a new phase of China-Africa development, enhancing the African countries’ participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and focussing on upgrading cooperation on trade and infrastructure and people-to-people relations;
- it will introduce pathways to a higher level of cooperation over the coming three years, and with the signing of a number of cooperation agreements with some countries, focussing on areas critical for Africa;
- it will enhance the story of China-African cooperation historically with new measures to be introduced that are people-centered. Wang Yi also said that there would be a great focus on young people in order to carry the relationship further down the road.
The morning of Sept. 3 will consist of an opening dialogue among participants, centered on issues of practical cooperation, increasing synergy and improving trade ties. President Xi Jinping and African leaders will participate in this discussion, along with business leaders and other delegates. In the afternoon, there will be the opening ceremony which President Xi will keynote. It will be followed by more formal discussion, focussing on industrial cooperation, the development of trade, health issues, and peace and security issues. The discussion will be tailored to the needs of the African countries. The co-chairs of this meeting will be President Xi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also chairman of the ruling African National Congress. In the evening there will be a grand banquet and entertainment program for the delegates.
On Sept. 4 there will a round-table discussion, with the morning session chaired by President Ramaphosa and the afternoon by President Xi. They will discuss the three-year plan moving toward the year 2021. On the sidelines, there will be bilateral meetings with President Xi and the African leaders. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, will also be chairing a forum on AIDS.
