Author: Garth Shelton, Farhana Paruk.

h e Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was jointly set up by China and Africa in October 2000 and is a major initiative taken to promote traditional China–Africa friendship and cooperation ... Since then, two ministerial conferences have been held, fi rst in Beijing and then in Addis Ababa. Th e forum serves as an important platform and eff ective mechanism for conducting collective dialogue, exchanging experience in governance and enhancing mutual trust and cooperation in practi- cal terms between China and Africa ... During the past fi ve decades, the Chinese and African peoples have forged close unity, and our friendship has fl ourished. China–Africa exchanges and cooperation have grown in all fi elds and yielded fruitful results. In international aff airs, China and Africa enjoy trust and cooperate closely to uphold the legitimate rights and interests of the developing world