At the end of last month, China’s President Xi Jinping wrote an important letter to African scholars, which presents a challenge to thinkers on the continent to rise up and be counted if Africa is to develop rapidly and achieve modernisation; working hand in hand with China.
By Abel Karowangoro
President Xi’s letter was in response to a letter signed by over 60 scholars from 50 countries wherein they congratulated him on the successful convening of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and expressed appreciation of the “historic” achievements of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Writing ahead of the just-concluded summit, the scholars also expressed hope that the forum would write a new chapter for building a China-Africa community with a shared future and modernising the Global South.
President Xi encouraged African scholars to continue providing intellectual support for building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future and safeguarding the common interests of the Global South, which is something that African intellectuals should take seriously and enthusiastically.
The Chinese leader’s letter is instructive, and bears highlighting significant issues and prospects that President Xi brought to the fore.
“China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future. In a turbulent and changing world, China and Africa need to strive for greater solidarity and cooperation than ever before,” he wrote.
“I hope that you will, building on the China-Africa Dar es Salaam Consensus, conduct further studies on the development paths of the Global South and on China-Africa and South-South cooperation, and continue to offer important intellectual support for building a high-quality China-Africa community with a shared future and upholding the common interests of the Global South,” he said.
He also gave an insight into China’s approach to its internal development and global politics.
He said, linking domestic policy to international goals: “A growing China committed to peace and development as well as reform and opening up will bolster the forces for world peace and international justice, and inject boundless energy into modernization of the wider world, and development and revitalization of the Global South in particular.”
Dar es Salaam Consensus
The China-Africa Dar es Salaam Consensus that President Xi made reference to is a document that came from the 13th Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum which was held in March in the east African country of Tanzania.
The event was hosted by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and co-organized by Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU), the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United Republic of Tanzania, the Department of Foreign Affairs of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, and Jinhua Municipal People’s Government.
During the event, around a hundred Chinese and African think tank scholars jointly issued the “Africa-China Dar es Salaam Consensus”, also known as “Consensus Among African and Chinese Think Tanks on Deepening Global Development Cooperation.”
It featured more than 300 participants from 50 countries, including scholars, experts, representatives of international organizations in Tanzania, diplomatic envoys, government officials, and entrepreneurs, participated in the forum through a combination of online and offline means; and focused on exploring China-Africa cooperation mechanisms, strategic initiatives, and practical actions in the fields of industrialization, agricultural modernization, and human resources training, among other areas.
The document, which has since been widely publicised and praised within the China-Africa community had a number of key observations and undertakings of the role that African scholars can play in advancing closer Global South cooperation in the context of the quest for modernisation.
“At this moment, it is essential to weave greater wisdom and reach broader consensus in the realm of knowledge and ideas, as human society needs more mutual dependence to share weal and woe,” it stated.
“As important members of the Global South, both Africa and China bear the historical mission of development and rejuvenation to benefit their people. Together they should actively participate in global governance systems, promote countries to move towards modernization, and build a community of shared future for mankind,” the consensus said.
It drew eight areas of concern, making calls for action.
These areas include:
- giving a priority to development and exploring independent, people-centered paths of mutual respect and mutual learning and advocating the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom for all humanity;
- Promoting the building of an equal and orderly multipolar world to facilitate common development and advocating greater democracy in international relations, increase the representation and voice of developing countries in the international system, and timely redress the historical injustices suffered by Africa;
- advancing a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization to share the dividends of development, strengthening global economic governance, eliminate trade and economic barriers, and establish a more resilient, inclusive, smooth, and efficient global supply chain and promoting reform of the international financial system actively to bridge the development gap;
- aligning with international initiatives and national plans to strengthen high-quality sustainable development bonds;
- activating domestic development through effective markets and proactive governments and advocate the advancement of efficient, incorruptible and law-based governance, optimizing macroeconomic regulation and public services to stimulate market vitality, as well as facilitating the industrialization and modernization of agriculture in Africa;
- appeal to value the legitimate security concerns of all countries, resolve conflicts through dialogue and consultation, and strive to avoid wars, conflicts, terrorism, diseases, or the pan-securitization “trap” that hinder development; and
- encouraging the adoption of more practical and effective measures to promote knowledge sharing and promoting the implementation of Global Civilization Initiative and deepen exchanges and mutual learning between China and Africa.
Challenge
African scholars took the initiative to address global questions, with particular focus on the Global South and linking the resolution of various global questions to stronger China-Africa cooperation. They positioned themselves as true thinkers that could help end crises that are afflicting the world.
This bold step is what the Chinese President praised in his letter, not least because the position of African scholars echo Chinese thinking in a number of areas – or more specifically, what is known as “Xi Jinping Thought”, as reflected in his speeches and writings on various questions.
The real challenge lies in African scholars playing a role in their home countries to influence their governments to domesticate these lofty ideas and act as the engine rooms of policy direction.
China and Africa’s community with a shared future, faces challenge in what President Xi correctly described as “a turbulent and changing world”; and it is critical for scholars, as well as media and think tanks to continuously highlight issues that require cooperation and advance mutual interests between Africa and China.
This takes a lot of commitment, clarity of thought and effort to achieve – and African scholars must strive to achieve fruitful results.
