In the Fast Lane

By+He+Wenping

The year 2015 is undoubtedly a milestone in Sino-African relations. In the beginning of the year， Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Africa， maintaining Chinas tradition in diplomacy that the foreign ministers first destination abroad in a new year should be Africa. The countries he visited on the continent were Kenya， Sudan， Cameroon， Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Wang also participated in the special consultation in support of the South Sudan peace process led by the African trade bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development （IGAD）. He put forward Chinas initiative on promoting the peace process， which enhanced the pace of Chinese participation in helping African countries resolve conflicts and usher in peace.

At the end of the year， Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Zimbabwe and South Africa， and chartered the future development of ChinaAfrica cooperation with African leaders at the Second Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation （FOCAC） in Johannesburg， South Africa.

The Johannesburg Summit， the first FOCAC summit held in Africa after the Beijing Summit in November 2006， endorsed Johannesburg Declaration of FOCAC and the FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plans （2016-18）， propelling Sino-African relations into the fast lane with its “1+5+10” framework. The“one” element in the framework stands for new positioning， namely， upgrading the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership into a comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership. China and Africa， which have become strategic pivots for each other， will support each other in the future against adversity. “Five” stands for five major pillars： political equality and mutual trust， promoting win-win economic cooperation， having mutually enriching cultural exchanges， mutual assistance in security， and solidarity and coordination in international affairs. The last element in the framework and the most arresting indicates the 10 China-Africa cooperation plans to be implemented with Chinese funding support， amounting $60 billion. The plans cover industrialization， agricultural modernization， infrastructure， financial cooperation， green development， trade and investment facilitation， poverty reduction， public health， cultural and peopleto-people exchanges， as well as peace and security efforts.

The 10 cooperation plans are based on Agenda 2063， the blueprint of the African Union （AU） to guide Africas development in the coming 50 years. The plans will be guided by the principles that they will meet Africas needs， will have Africas consent， and will benefit Africa. Their aim will be to address the three bottlenecks holding back Africas development—inadequate infrastructure， lack of professional and skilled personnel， and funding shortages. Each plan will have Chinese financial， technical or material support and will provide a strong development impetus to future ChinaAfrica cooperation. Under the “1+5+10”framework， China-Africa relations will enter a new development era.