By ZHANG Wei

On June 11, 2025, the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Over 100 ministerial officials from FOCAC member countries, representatives from the African Union Commission, and diplomatic envoys of African countries to China attended the event. In his congratulatory letter sent to the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping elaborated the significance of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation, and announced the measures to further expand openness and cooperation with Africa, providing guidance for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization and build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

The ministerial meeting serves as a “refueling station” for the development of FOCAC. Since the FOCAC Beijing Summit held last September, China has made an additional investment of over RMB 13.3 billion, and provided funding of over RMB 150 billion to Africa. In the first five months of this year, China’s imports and exports with Africa reached RMB 963 billion, up by 12.4 percent year-on-year, hitting a record high for the same period of the year in history. At the ministerial meeting, the two sides issued the List of Outcomes of the Implementation of the Follow-up Action of the Beijing Summit of FOCAC, and the Concept Paper of 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, demonstrating the joint efforts of both sides to implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and providing new driving forces for deepening political mutual trust, advancing mutually beneficial cooperation and building closer bond between two peoples. 

The ministerial meeting is an accelerator for the high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation. On FOCAC Beijing Summit last year, President Xi Jinping announced that China would give all the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 African countries, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines. In his congratulatory letter to this ministerial meeting, President Xi announced that China will implement measures of granting 53 African countries having diplomatic relations with China zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines through negotiating agreements on economic partnership for shared development, and facilitate greater access for exports from least developed countries of Africa to China. The move makes China the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a step. In its cooperation with Africa, China has always adhered to the principle of combining righteousness with shared interests, with righteousness as the priority. The greatest “righteousness” in China-Africa relations is to boost Africa’s growth with China’s development, and ultimately achieve mutual benefit, win-win results and common development.

The ministerial meeting will be a stabilizing force for the global landscape. The current international situation is marked by changes and turmoil. Disregarding international laws and trade rules, the United States abruptly cut aid to many countries including those in Africa, indiscriminately imposed tariffs worldwide, and released a proclamation imposing new travel restrictions affecting nationals from 10 African countries. Those bullying acts have created severe difficulties for the economic and social development and the improvement of livelihood in African countries. At the ministerial meeting, the China-Africa Changsha Declaration on Upholding Solidarity and Cooperation of the Global South was issued, which reiterated that China and Africa will continue to stand side by side with mutual understanding and support amid chaos and changes, jointly uphold true multilateralism and oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, stabilize the uncertain world with the certainty and resilience of the China-Africa relationship.

The ministerial meeting reassured Africa of China’s responsibility as a major country. President Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter sends a clear signal that China’s Africa policy is stable and will promote cooperative development. While the international order is facing grave challenges, China has been consistently marching forward with Africa as equal partners, making China-Africa cooperation a model of Global South cooperation. The weighty outcome list fullfills the commitments made on FOCAC Beijing Summit, demonstrating China’s credibility as a major country. The outcomes are vivid footnotes to the China-Africa community with a shared future, as well as powerful responses to unilateralism and protectionism. With its firm and efficient actions, China has proved that openness and cooperation go with the tide of history and that mutual benefit is a consensus shared by the international community. The U.S. tariff bludgeon and other acts of hegemony, bullying and coercion will never stop China and Africa from advancing together. On the contrary, they will only strengthen the friendship and tighten the cooperation.

The ministerial meeting made a road map for the development of China-Africa relationship. China and Africa, as the world’s largest developing country and the continent home to the largest number of developing countries, together form the backbone of the Global South. The more complex and turbulent the international landscape becomes, the more imperative it is for China and Africa to stand firmly shoulder by shoulder and actively steer the course of the times. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a five-point proposal to promote high-quality development of China-Africa cooperation, i.e., upholding mutual assistance and serving as defenders of solidarity among Global South countries, upholding openness and serving as advocates for international free trade, upholding mutual benefit and win-win results and serving as partners in global development cooperation, upholding fairness and justice and serving as defenders of an equitable international order, upholding exchanges and mutual learning and serving as promoters of the diversity of world civilizations.

Looking ahead, no matter how the international situation evolves or China develops, China will unswervingly prioritize strengthening solidarity and cooperation with African countries in its diplomacy, and remain the most sincere friend and the most reliable partner of African countries. China and Africa, standing united in the century of great transformation, will open up even brighter prospects for global peace and development, and make bigger contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

ZHANG Wei is Charge d’Affaires a.i. of the Mission of China to the African Union