China-Africa summit 2024: What’s in it for Beijing, Xi Jinping and Africa?
African leaders are converging in China this week for an anticipated high-level meeting with President Xi Jinping as Beijing continues to befriend and expand its influence on the continent amid a silent face-off with Western countries.
The China-Africa summit, which will last from September 4 to 6, will see leaders of African countries meet and discuss policies and cooperation agreements with officials from the continent’s biggest lender and investor. Those agreements will set the tone for the two side’s burgeoning relations for the next few years.
In a statement, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conference is the “largest diplomatic event” the country has hosted in recent years with the highest attendance of foreign leaders, adding that it was a “grand reunion of the China-Africa big family”.
Agreements in past summits have unlocked unrivalled access to Africa’s raw material markets for Beijing, as well as investment dollars for African countries.
“China shall never waver in its determination to pursue greater solidarity and cooperation with Africa,” the statement added.
Here’s all you need to know about what’s planned for the 2024 summit, who will be there, and where China is already investing in Africa:
What’s the summit about?
The China-Africa summit, officially called the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), has been held every three years since 2000. The latest conference will be the ninth such meeting.
The meetings and eventual deals will revolve around the themes of industrialisation, agricultural advancements, security, and cooperation regarding China’s Belt and Road initiative – a massive project aiming to link several continents to China with physical infrastructure.
According to China’s foreign ministry, the official summit theme is “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”.
Beijing is expected to fete its high-level guests at a welcoming banquet, a separate opening ceremony, four general summits, and several bilateral meetings with China’s Xi and different African leaders.
The summit comes at a time when China is increasingly countering United States and European influence in Africa and other developing regions in its climb to global superpower status. Although the US, Japan, India and Russia also hold regular summits to woo the continent’s leaders, China is unmatched as the continent’s economic partner.
