Recently, there has been increasing calls from the West for a so-called "trilateral cooperation," in West-China-Africa cooperation. There is doubt over the traditional aid regime and a strong tendency of transforming "aid effectiveness" to "development effectiveness" among developing countries. But what does the trilateral cooperation indicate? How should China face this new situation? Li Anshan, from the Center for African Studies, Peking University, shares his thoughts on this issue:

In the workshop, "China's Emerging Global Health and Foreign Aid Engagement," co-organized by CSIS-CIIS (Center for Strategic International Studies and China Institute of International Studies), I was assigned to write on the subject: "How should the United States and China launch the pilot project in Africa?" Here the presumption is that there is a possibility for U.S.-China cooperation in assisting Africa. However, to turn that possibility into reality needs a lot of work. The reason is simple, how could two parties discuss an important issue concerning the third party without the third's knowledge? How could the two parties carry out this kind of cooperation without the third party's participation at the very beginning? How could we start the cooperation without much understanding, let alone agreement, of each other's concept on the issue?

These concepts and principles are the basis for China-Africa cooperation.

First, how should we look at Africa? Positive view or negative view? If we take a historical perspective, we will find that Africa is not a backward continent. Rather, it has made a great progress since independence in integration, human rights and nation building.

Second, the relationship between China and Africa is equal. China has never used the concept of "donor-recipient" to describe China-Africa relations, while "partner" is used instead. China believes that assistance is not unilateral, but mutual.

Third, China sees Africa as a promising not a "hopeless" continent. This is born out by the rapid economic development in Angola, Rwanda and the fact that Africa's GDP has an average increase of 4.9 percent from 2000 to 2008, occupying the third place in fastest growing parts of the world.

With various advantages such as human resources, natural resources and cultural heritage, why should Africa be poor and hopeless?

The principles guiding China-Africa relations can be summarized as equality and mutual respect, bilateralism and common development, no political strings attached and non-interference in others' internal affairs, and stress on the capability of self-reliance.

So with this in mind, how should we begin trilateral cooperation?

With a rapid economic growth in China, the cooperation between China and Africa is also strengthened. On various occasions, Chinese officials promised to expand medical cooperation with developing countries, including those in Africa. The United States has a long history of aid to Africa and now it has also speeded up its engagement in Africa, including medical aid. There therefore exists the possibility for cooperation.

My suggestions are as follows:

First, reaching an agreement on understanding of the word "cooperation" in Chinese terms, or "aid" in American terms. It is of vital importance in the cooperation process. What should both sides do in this cooperation in terms of different philosophies? Can we solve this problem first?

Second, choosing the most appropriate projects. Once the [above] agreement is reached, there are countless projects ongoing in Africa, some being successful and some not. Some are beneficial to ordinary Africans, some not necessarily so.

Third, choosing an African country as a partner. Since China and the United States have different views on many issues, they have accordingly different relations with African countries. The African country partner should be one, which keeps good relations with both China and the United States. An African country must first request the pilot project; otherwise no project can be successful without the host country's cooperation.

Fourth, who should be responsible for and get involved in the pilot project? There are several ways to do this. In the case of a government-sponsored project, the ministry in charge of the medical issues or cooperation takes the responsibility in organizing and performing the project. The second way is that NGOs could take charge and the government could sponsor the NGO to carry out the project.

The best way forward is to have both the government's efforts and civil society's participation combined.