2024 Summit of FOCAC: Moving together for the future of modernization

Editor's note: Gao Lei, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Center for Xi Jinping Thoughts on Opening-up, Research Institute of Globalization and China's Modernization, University of International Business & Economics. Xia Lu, a special commentator for CGTN, is a research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, National Academy for Development & Strategy, the Academy of Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On September 5, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that has gathered heads of state, government leaders, and representatives from more than 50 member countries of the FOCAC, along with the chairperson of the African Union Commission, the secretary-general of the United Nations, and heads of several international organizations.

It has not only set a new record in terms of the scale of the diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years and of the number of leaders in attendance, but also become a grand event in the history of China-Africa exchanges and of those among countries in the "Global South."

The FOCAC is of great significance to members and participants, and also bears global importance to the broad developing world. According to official data, the 54 member states of the FOCAC, including China and 53 African countries, cover an area of about 40 million square kilometers, accounting for about 30 percent of the world's total land area. And in terms of population, the 54 member states of the FOCAC have a population of approximately 2.9 billion, accounting for around 36 percent of the world's total population.

That being said, the outcome of the summit, without any conditions attached, will benefit more than one-third of the world's population, creating shared opportunities for all participants.

Thus, anyone who doubts the sincerity and significance of China's assistance to Africa is still thinking in an outdated way – assuming that only Western countries can solve global issues and define the path to modernization. This is far from the truth.

As President Xi noted in his speech at the opening ceremony of the summit, "modernization is an inalienable right of all countries." Given that the Western path to modernization has brought not hope and a bright future, but rather significant suffering to developing nations, countries like China and those in Africa should be confident in pursuing their own paths to modernization, based on their unique national conditions. In doing so, they can work to rectify the historical injustices encountered in the modernization process.

On various occasions, President Xi has repeatedly laid out the core question of our time – "what has happened to the world and how should we respond"? In fact, the world continues to grapple with numerous challenges, including – but not limited to – rising trade protectionism, unilateralism, starkly imbalanced global development, extremism, and terrorism. Many developing countries are still unable to assert their rights or safeguard their interests within various international bodies and mechanisms.

In other words, human society now faces deficits in development, peace, governance, and trust. President Xi's proposals and initiatives during the opening ceremony offer a promising path forward, providing practical solutions to address these pressing issues.

In the past three years, practical cooperation between China and Africa, represented by the nine programs with African countries rolled out during the eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC in 2021, has continuously deepened, and political mutual trust has been constantly enhanced. In the next three years, the bilateral cooperation will be mainly focusing on modernization. It shall be a modernization with the characteristics of just and reasonable, open and win-win, people-centered, culturally-inclusive, ecologically-friendly and peaceful and secured.

To achieve this goal, ten partnership action plans aimed at jointly advancing modernization will be implemented. These plans cover a wide range of areas, including cultural exchange, trade promotion, medical and healthcare, agricultural upgrading, green development, the digital economy, professional training and peacebuilding. As these initiatives unfold, they will bring new opportunities and momentum to all member countries.

As the saying goes, "look before you leap," and leaders must carefully consider their true goals before taking action. In the pursuit of socioeconomic modernization, the Global South should focus on what can be termed "conceptual supply" – providing new interpretations of concepts that have traditionally been defined and, at times, manipulated by the West.

President Xi made strides in this direction when he analyzed Chinese modernization in the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022. Now, he offers a valuable example for the Global South, urging all developing countries to ignite a wave of modernization and to write a new chapter in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

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