One year has passed since the new Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership took office in November 2012. Has there been a level of continuity in China’s Africa policy in that time and what are the challenges facing Sino-African relations in the new era? Against the backdrop of the Third Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee held from November 9-12 in Beijing, Chinese scholars and experts on African affairs shared their views on these questions with ChinAfrica. Excerpts follow:

ChinAfrica: What are some of the focal points of the new leadership’s Africa policy?

» Liu Guijin, Former Special E nvoy of the Chinese Government on African Affairs, and Dean of the China-Africa International Business School at Zhejiang Normal University (ZNU)

President Xi stepped onto African soil during his first state visit, indicating that China values the traditional Sino-African relationship and hopes to broaden bilateral friendships in this new era. Xi’s successful visit to Africa and his attendance at the BRICS Summit consolidated China’s ties with African countries and other emerging economies. The new leadership attached importance to people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, which will also be the key parts of the development of Sino-African relations in coming years.

» Yang Lihua, Research Fellow at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS ) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS )

Under the new Chinese leadership, China remains consistent with its Africa policy of promoting sincere, friendly and pragmatic cooperation. Yet, we have innovated our approach of cooperation. In addition to assistance and trade, we now emphasize more on the investmentdriven cooperative projects, as both China and Africa are faced with the tasks of adjusting industrial structure and development mode. Second, the new idea of “a community of shared destinies” put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping has been echoed in Africa.

» Zhang Zhongxiang, Deputy Director of the Center of African Studies at Shanghai Normal University

Xi’s Africa visit shows that the new Chinese leadership attaches importance to China-Africa relations. He spoke highly of Africa and described Africa as “a continent of hope and promise.” It is true that China and Africa have similar historical experiences, common development tasks and shared strategic interests, and view each other’s development as their own opportunities. The new leadership believes that China-Africa relations need both “hard backing” such as economic cooperation, and “soft propellant” like people-to-people ties.

What adjustments, if any, should be made to the Africa policy?

» Shu Zhan, Senior Research Fellow at ZNU’s Institute of African Studies, and former Chinese Ambassador to Eritrea and Rwanda

At the 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and Africa decided to establish and develop a new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, win-win economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. In the future I think we can increase mutual learning. First, we need to learn more about Africa, the mindset of Africans, how they deal with things and people. Second, although now some African countries are not as developed as China, we can still learn things from them, such as environmental protection and their environmental awareness.

» Zhang Zhongxiang: With the expansion of Sino- African relations in the past decade, China’s relations with African countries have received attention from Western countries. Some Western politicians and media have even dubbed China’s engagement with African countries as “neo-colonialism.” This claim is groundless. In fact, Africa has grown fast in the past 10 years because of its increasingly close economic ties with other emerging economies, including China.

» Yang Lihua: One of the challenges is how China’s development can be closely connected with Africa’s needs. It’s a much higher requirement and goes beyond trade, as this keeps an eye on the sustainable development of China and Africa in the long run. In addition, China’s involvement in Africa and Chinese enterprises in Africa are under the spotlight of Western media. The pressure from the Western countries can also help Chinese enterprises in Africa more quickly adapt to the international environment.

How can we further develop Sino-African economic and trade relations in a more sustainable way?

» He Wenping, Director of the African Research Section at IWAAS of CASS

Some African scholars have shared concerns about the trade imbalance between China and Africa. Currently, most African countries depend on agriculture and don’t have their own industrial system, thus the trade structure has remained as it is today. On one hand, we have made efforts to help Africans establish their own industrial system, but this process still takes time. For instance, we have helped Sudan to develop their petroleum refining industry. On the other hand, China has also been helping African enterprises enter the Chinese market by holding African commodity exhibitions and establishing African products exhibition centers. In addition, I think African countries also need to make efforts to create a better investment environment to attract foreign investment.

» Liu Guijin: We never denied the problems in our cooperation, but make every possible effort to solve them. To better meet Africa’s needs and development strategies, I suggest Chinese companies should invest more in sectors which will help improve African people’s livelihood. This includes transferring technology to African countries more effectively, so as to increase their job opportunities and development capacity, enable African people to benefit from bilateral cooperation, and place more emphasis on green growth and sustainable development.

» Shu Zhan: We need to adjust our policy and find new approaches of cooperation based on the current needs of our African partners, so that our partnership will be more sustainable in the long run. Since the mid-1990s, Africa’s economies have been growing rapidly, and their needs have changed accordingly. Currently, Africa needs industrialization because it is the best way they are going to deal with a large and youthful population. Chinese investment can help African countries build their labor-intensive industries, and promote job creation and industrialization.

What role can think tanks play in enhancing Sino-African relations?

» Liu Guijin: Chinese and African think tanks can play an important role in promoting the sustainable development of Sino-African relations. We can conduct joint research to address the problems in our cooperation and work together to put forward practical recommendations. Through exchanges and communication, we can eliminate misunderstanding and promote mutual understanding between our peoples.

» He Wenping: First, as think tanks are not affiliated with any industry or organization, scholars can offer more objective standpoints and analyze micro issues from a macroscopic perspective, so that our research findings will be more helpful for the government agencies and Chinese companies. Second, Chinese scholars can learn about the African view on some issues, through exchanges and discussions with African scholars. Third, as think-tank exchanges cover a variety of areas, scholars can look at some problems in our relations from a more comprehensive perspective.

» Shu Zhan: I suggest think tanks can do more case studies about the performances of Chinese enterprises in Africa, for example, China Road and Bridge Corp. in Rwanda, Huawei Technologies Co. in South Africa, and ZTE Corp. in Ethiopia. How can they better improve their work? What lessons can other Chinese companies draw from their experiences? This kind of research will be more beneficial and valuable for Chinese companies operating in Africa.