China's Africa policy reflects progress

Coverage of recent summit has missed document that leads to transformational measures

A little-noticed document has been highlighted by the recently concluded Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Dec 4 and 5 and the sixth ministerial conference that immediately preceded it.

That key document is China's Africa Policy 2015.

The media and academia have zeroed in on the $60 billion bonanza and other economic commitments made to Africa by President Xi Jinping.

The pledges amount to the solidification of principles underlying Africa-China engagements, such as mutual benefits and win-win cooperation. However, analyses of the action plan and declaration of the Johannesburg summit miss a huge and foundational point if they fail to take account of China's Africa Policy 2015.

One can appreciate why China's Africa Policy is not attracting so much attention as the economics and politics of Africa-China engagement. After all, policies are essentially broad statements of intent that can be assessed only through tangible implementation.

Jumping to an analysis of the proposed projects is fine in a world in which news cycles are shrinking, pushing the media to cut to the chase and report only the dramatic and the startling. But that risks marginalizing the springboard from where the headlines emanate.

For China, the springboard for what came out of Johannesburg is its Africa Policy. The unveiling of the policy's 2015 edition follows on a similar document launched in January 2006, making the policy in its two incarnations a month shy of 10 years old.

In addition, the launch of China's Africa Policy 2015 coincided with the second FOCAC summit, just as the Africa Policy 2006 presaged the first FOCAC summit held in Beijing in October 2006.

Pertinent questions arise out of the timing of this promulgation. Is a tradition being established in which China issues policies toward Africa after a decade? Will Africa-China summits be held after every 10 years or will this initial pattern give way to an eclectic convening of summits?

Regardless of whether a tradition is being established for fresh policy frameworks by China toward Africa, a 10-year period comes across as optimal for new policy promulgations. This comes through clearly when you compare the Africa Policy 2015 document with its 2006 version.

Granted, there are similarities, as in the language of friendship and solidarity between Africa and China, as well as the recognition of both entities in global geopolitical issues including economic development, peace and security, and the environment. These constitute continuities that serve to endorse the unique relationship between continent and country.

However, discontinuities are well worth considering. For starters, the 2015 document is much more elaborate and thicker, potentially a commentary on the maturity in Africa-China engagements over the past decade. It is as if the 2015 document is an expression of the confidence in the relations while at the same time laying the foundation for the next 10 years.

To pick just one aspect that is fleshed out in the 2015 policy, China pledges to effect "practical results" in the engagements, which means "upholding the principle of honoring commitments with real actions and results". This and other instances of boldness were lacking in the 2006 policy. It is perhaps an instance of confidence borne of China's delivery on its side of the bargain.

Perhaps more significant is the fact that the 2015 policy inaugurates a "comprehensive strategic and cooperative China-Africa partnership", whereas the 2006 policy talked of a "new type of China-Africa strategic partnership". One might dismiss the recalibration of the relations from just strategic to comprehensive-strategic as mere rhetoric until one considers what the two coinages mean in Chinese foreign policy.

Indeed, the 2015 policy captures intent by China to align its policies and its implementation with the African Union's Agenda 2063 - essentially a plan to lift millions of Africans out of poverty through such means as economic integration. Equally, the new policy captures the United Nations post-2015 development agenda with regard to Africa, the continent that performed most dismally at the conclusion of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals period.

A lesson to be drawn from the new policy is that Chinese leaders have refined and crystallized their thoughts on engagement with Africa. It would be interesting if the AU equally distilled its Agenda 2063 and developed an African policy toward China.

And while we're at it, it would be interesting to know if other global powers will also be crafting their African policies or working with those already in place. For instance, when the United States fashioned a policy toward Africa in 2012, pundits quickly concluded that Washington was aping Beijing because the US had never had a policy statement toward Africa, and the US policy came within weeks of the fifth FOCAC ministerial conference.

The author is a research associate at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/01/2016 page15)