China to host third China-Africa Peace and Security forum

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Ministry of National Defense of the PRC
27 Aug 2023 17:59
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The third China-Africa Peace and Security Summit is set to commence on Monday, August 28, as Beijing looks to strengthen military cooperation with the African continent.

(From L to R) President of Comoros Azali Assoumani (L), South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of China Xi Jinping, and Senegalese President Macky Sall attend the China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2023. (AFP)

The third China-Africa Peace and Security Forum will be held in China from August 28 to September 2, the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday.

The ministry revealed that Chinese Minister of Defense Li Shangfu will be in attendance at the plenary session of the forum, where he will deliver a keynote speech.

The forum is expected to hold "leader of defense departments and military chiefs of nearly 50 African countries" as well as the "heads of peace and security affairs of the African Union" and "military attachés of African countries to China," a press release stated.

Headlining the forum will be "Implementing the Global Security Initiative, Strengthening China-Africa Solidarity and Cooperation."

The ministry explained that the meetings will attempt to strengthen and consolidate "strategic communication" between China's security and military apparatus and its African counterparts, in order to build up Chinese-African relations in the new era of global multilateralism.

The forum was preceded by a second iteration in July 2022, as well as the initial meeting which laid the groundwork for African-Chinese security cooperation in July 2019.

In the two previous forums, Chinese officials attached great importance to cooperation on security and military between Beijing and the African continent, saying that "Security in Africa is a barometer of the global security governance system," said Xu Weizhong, director of the Institute of African Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Issues such as terrorism, fundamentalism, drug, and human trafficking, as well as arms proliferation, cannot be limited by national borders or continental boundaries; however, they must be dealt with "through de facto" global cooperation which Africa is a significant part of, according to Xu.

China-Africa economic cooperation to lead to prosperity

It is worth noting that China in 2022 was Africa's largest bilateral trading partner, where the country registered $288 billion in trade with African nations, according to data published by the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Beijing has held this title for 14 consecutive years, with direct Chinese investment in African markets reaching 1.38 billion dollars in the first four months of 2023, up 24 percent year on year.

This trend of growing China-Africa economic cooperation is evident in official Chinese statistics showing that total trade volume with Africa in the first five months of 2023 has reached 822.32 billion yuan ($113.5 billion), up 16.4 percent yearly.

The Western position in Africa, specifically in West Africa, is at an all-time worse. China which leads several multilateral organizations, including BRICS, will look to expand cooperation with African nations to secure prosperity and development in the continent at a geopolitical junction that has been described as historical by experts.