By Ye Hailin
China-Africa cooperation emerged as a focal point for international media, particularly African outlets, during this year’s “two sessions,” annual meetings of China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, and the top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
China believes that Africa is a fertile land of hope of the 21st century, and there will be no global modernization without African modernization. Africa is going through a new awakening, and countries should support Africa in exploring a new development path of self-reliance and self-strengthening.
Mainstream media from South Africa, Nigeria, and other African nations closely followed the proceedings of the meetings, while even local African news platforms, which typically prioritize regional coverage, maintained a keen interest in the event.
China and Africa are always good friends, good partners and good brothers with a shared future. China stands ready to deliver on the ten partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization, supporting Africa in accelerating its modernization.
Since the inception of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has helped Africa build or upgrade nearly 100,000 kilometers of roads, and more than 10,000 kilometers of railways. In the past three years alone, Chinese enterprises created more than 1.1 million new jobs in Africa.
Today, China’s breakthroughs in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and new energy have drawn significant attention across Africa. As a Senegalese scholar remarked, China once taught Africa to achieve independence, and it will guide the continent on the road to modernization.
The joint pursuit of modernization by China and Africa is a collective choice of over 2.8 billion Chinese and African people amid the changes of the world, the times, and history. It forms the moral and practical foundation of China-Africa relations amid profound changes unseen in a century and stands as a central theme of the all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Historically, modernization has been an inevitable path for human development, yet the path is far from smooth. The journey has witnessed dazzling technological advances, transformative institutional innovations, and monumental achievements, but also immeasurable historical injustices.
Following World War II, the surge of national liberation movements across Africa marked the continent’s first collective awakening, playing a pivotal role in advancing modernization not only for Africa but for the broader Global South.
Since its founding, the People’s Republic of China has stood in solidarity with African nations, contributing significantly to Africa’s national awakening and political independence. This legacy has laid a solid groundwork for their joint modernization efforts today.
The shared interests, emotional bonds, principles, and values underpinning the China-Africa community with a shared future and their collaboratively promoting modernization were forged through this historical journey. By working together, China and Africa are upholding and advancing the great cause initiated by their visionary leaders of the past.
In today’s world, which is turbulent, Global South countries must work in close coordination to address global challenges. During the cause of addressing global challenges, Africa is neither a passive participant, nor should it be a recipient of salvation or a forgotten entity; it is a proactive bearer of shared historical responsibilities. This is the rightful meaning of Africa’s “new awakening.”
While the 20th-century awakening brought dignity and self-determination, the 21st-century awakening will bring freedom and self-reliance to Africa. It’s a common aspiration of African peoples to gain a foothold in the world, resist interference and resolutely pursue modernization.
From a long-term historical perspective, the joint pursuit of modernization by China and Africa is not only a process for the African nations to achieve economic independence and social progress but also a broader endeavor for developing countries, including China and African nations, to take control of their own future and shape the evolving global landscape.
As countries of the Global South advance toward modernization together, they will continuously inject momentum into the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, creating a grand and inspiring vision of the times.
(Ye Hailin is the dean of the China-Africa Institute.)
