On December 4-5, Chinese President Xi Jinping played a leading role as co-chair of a 44-country summit meeting in Johannesburg, along with South African President Zuma, and at the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The latter, established in 2006, aims to provide guidance for the growing relationship between China and Africa nations.

China's assessment of the growing importance of this relationship was demonstrated in President Xi's statement after the final plenary session of the conference, announcing consensus on upgrading China-Africa relations to a "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership."

In accordance with Chinese preference for neat tabulation and enumeration, this was the first part of the formula applied to the working plan agreed at the summit: "one upgrade, five pillars, 10 plans." The "five pillars" include: "consolidating political mutual trust, striving for win-win economic cooperation, enhancing exchanges and learning from each other's cultures, helping each other in security matters, and cementing unity and coordination on international affairs."

The first three of these involve the basic methods of soft-power projection; mutually beneficial political, economic and cultural exchanges. President Xi announced China would provide US$60 billion funding for elements of this program. China has been involved in economic cooperation with Africa for 50 years, during which great changes have taken place in both parts of the world, and the path has not always been smooth.

The emphasis on "win-win" cooperation is aimed at disarming suspicion that Africa may not always be obtaining enough benefits in exchange for its raw material wealth, and the emphasis on "enhancing exchanges" addresses another perceived problem, that China has at times been seen as relying too much on importing Chinese personnel and technical expertise rather than utilizing and training local workers for its African projects.

Accordingly, the detailed plans involve setting up technical training institutions to provide African countries with local expertise, as well as creating some 40,000 places for African students to study in China. This program, if successful, will help offset one of the inherent problems of these high-level summits; that "partnerships" agreed between presidents and ministers may provide finance, but do not always translate into partnerships at all levels. But if this results into real cooperation on the ground between Chinese and African engineers and other technicians, it will create a lasting benefit for both sides. To crown the "soft-power" elements, President Xi announced China would also cancel outstanding debts in the form of zero-interest loans extended to the least developed African countries and maturing at the end of 2015, and launch 200 "Happy Life" projects and special programs focusing on women and children.

The fourth and fifth "pillars" relate to security issues, which are of course important in providing a safe environment for economic cooperation, but have wider implications. China has a natural interest in developing a new global security balance for the 21st century, now that her own rise to increased prominence has changed the balance. China's consistent approach has been to provide a solid base of economic common interests to underpin strategic partnerships, and Africa is no exception.

Indeed, of the 10 "plans" of agreed action programs (industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, financial services, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty reduction, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security) the first nine can be seen as providing a foundation for the last.

In seeking allies and partners on global security issues in Africa, China enjoys a considerable advantage from her lack of a colonial history in the region. Much was made at the Johannesburg summit of the idea that China meets African leaders on a basis of equality, many African leaders implying that they do not believe the same can be said for Western leaders.

When President Xi said at the plenary meeting: "China strongly believes that Africa belongs to the African people and that African affairs should be decided by the African people," he was not stating anything unique; however, some African leaders are somewhat over-sensitive on their colonial history, and were at pains to deny any suggestion by Western commentators that China is engaging in her own form of colonialism.

In fact such suggestions are largely imaginary; there exists no wish for Empire, nor any resentment against an improvement in relations between the continent and China. In fact, the efforts China is making to tackle the poverty and underdevelopment which are a major cause of global insecurity are welcome to most of the rest of the world.

The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www1.china.org.cn/opinion/timcollard.htm

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