Author: Garth Shelton, Farhana Paruk.

At the conclusion of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing in November 2006 two historic documents, a declaration and an action plan for 2007–2009, were adopted by the Chinese and African leadership. The declaration confirms the establishment of a ‘new type of strategic partner- ship’ between China and Africa, while the action plan provides a detailed road map for China–Africa cooperation until the FOCAC IV meeting scheduled for late 2009 takes place in Cairo, Egypt. The action plan proposes cooperation in the fields of politics, economics, international affairs and social development. At a related conference held in the Great Hall of the People, Premier Wen Jiabao proposed an accelerated trade programme aimed at increasing two-way trade to a total of $100 billion by 2010. Trade between China and Africa totalled only $10 billion in 2000, but had reached almost $40 billion by the end of 2006. FOCAC III was the highest level and the largest meeting that had taken place between Chinese and African leadership since diplomatic relations were opened in the 1950s.