December 2010, Beijing

Foreword

China is the largest developing country in the world, and Africa is home to the largest number of developing countries. The combined population of China and Africa accounts for over one-third of the world's total. Promoting economic development and social progress is the common task China and Africa are facing.

During their years of development, China and Africa give full play to the complementary advantages in each other's resources and economic structures, abiding by the principles of equality, effectiveness, mutual benefit and reciprocity, and mutual development, and keep enhancing economic and trade cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and progress. Practice proves that China-Africa economic and trade cooperation serves the common interests of the two sides, helps Africa to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals, and boosts common prosperity and progress for China and Africa.

In the 1950s, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation centered on bilateral trade and China's aid to Africa. Through joint efforts of both sides, cooperation has been developed in ever-expanding fields and with increasingly richer contents. Especially since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was established in 2000, economic and trade cooperation has been further enhanced and revitalized; trade, investment, infrastructure and capacity building have been pushed forward in an all-round way; and cooperation in finance and tourism has been gradually expanded, thereby forming a multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation pattern on a new historical starting point.

China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is a major component of South-South cooperation, infuses new life into the latter, and elevates the political and economic status of developing countries in the world, playing a significant role in promoting the establishment of a fair and rational new international political and economic order. China would like to work with other countries and international organizations to enhance consultation and coordination with African countries, participate in the construction of Africa, and jointly promote peace, development and progress in Africa.