Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

TheMK sport biggest event between China and Africa, the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), concluded in Beijing on Friday. At least 53 African countries' heads of state or ministerial officials were present at this summit. This is truly a strong indication of how dynamic and strong the cooperation between China and Africa has become. I think China has great confidence that this FOCAC summit in Beijing will rededicate China-Africa cooperation to a higher level, emphasizing new ways of achieving modernization.

However, it is also important to note that certain Western countries in recent years have been accusing China of its engagement with Africa, coming up with all kinds of false accusations, including, for example, "neo-colonialism" or "debt trap." From the Chinese perspective, all these accusations are completely without merit. China views all the 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, big or small, as equal, and it has never attached any political strings to its cooperation with Africa. Now, in the US, there are accusations against China, which begs the question, why does the US loath China engaging with Africa? The US does not want to see more and more engagement by China in Africa because they worry that the African continent will be swept into China's sphere of influence. The US refuses to acknowledge that what China really wants is to promote win-win cooperation with African countries. 

The taste of the pudding is really in eating it, and it should be the African countries who should eat the pudding and tell the whole world which pudding they like best. Fundamentally and philosophically, I think the real choice for African countries is not between China and the US, but about who is doing the right thing.

If China does the right thing, why should African countries walk away from China? China-Africa cooperation does not mean African countries cannot cooperate with the US, or any other country for that matter. Any country can engage with any African country on one condition, and one condition only, they must respect African countries and treat them as equals. 

China wants to work with African countries and achieve what we call modernization with African characteristics. African countries need to figure out their path going forward. They can learn a great deal from China, but they cannot just adopt the Chinese model because they need to adapt whatever we have been doing in China to meet their specific circumstances.

The author is a chair professor at Soochow University and Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization. [email protected]