China and Africa Industrial Capacity Cooperation

Industrial capacity cooperation between China and Africa is the urgent need for Africa to realize independent and sustainable development. Since the middle of the last century, African countries have achieved national independence one after another, and sought to promote economic development through international cooperation. However, some countries outside the region are only willing give Africa […]

Industrial capacity cooperation between China and Africa is the urgent need for Africa to realize independent and sustainable development. Since the middle of the last century, African countries have achieved national independence one after another, and sought to promote economic development through international cooperation. However, some countries outside the region are only willing give Africa “fish” instead of “teaching Africa how to fish”. Many African countries still suffer from hunger and under-development.
It is impossible to realize real political independence without economic independence. By giving others fish, one might help to address the immediate needs of others. Only after “learning how to fish” can Africa sets up its own industrial system, move out of the disadvantage of exporting raw materials at a low price and importing expensive finished products, thus realizing independent and sustainable development and controlling their own destiny.
Industrial capacity cooperation is to “let African countries know how to fish”, helping Africa to get rid of the two persistent bottleneck constraints hindering its development and industrialization, i.e., insufficiency in infrastructure and talent. The Chinese government encourages Chinese businesses to invest in Africa, transfer their technologies bring more job opportunities, foreign exchange, tax revenue and added value of primary products to the local people, thus translating Africa’s abundant natural and human resources into real development results.
Industrial capacity cooperation between China and Africa is the natural trend of China’s economic transformation and upgrading. After more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China has developed a large number of leading industries which provide advanced equipments and products to the world, and numerous internationally competitive businesses have grown in China. At the same time, due to increase of labor cost, a large number of labor-intensive businesses in China need to move overseas for new development. China can and need to bring its industrial capacity overseas, and help other countries to develop while achieving China’s own development. This is also in line with the rule of world economic development. Japan and the four Asian tigers all realized economic takeoff after taking over industrial capacity from overseas, and later became source countries to export industrial capacity to overseas markets.
Africa has a population of close to 1.1 billion, which might reach 1.4 billion by 2025. The huge demographic dividend will make it one of the most ideal locations for investments from other parts of the world. In order to realize industrialization, Africa needs advantageous industrial capacity from countries such as China. The Chinese government is sincere in helping Africa to improve both “software” and “hardware” of investment, assisting them to “build a nest to attract phoenix”, and creating better environment for industrial capacity transfer. It is fair to say that China and Africa have respective advantages and mutual need for industrial capacity cooperation, helping Africa is helping China itself.
Industrial capacity cooperation between China and Africa is the objective need to safeguard world peace and prosperity. African refugees are flooding to Europe. Poverty and underdevelopment have always been the root causes of instability and unrest in Africa, which also provide the breeding ground for terrorism. Stability and development in Africa bear on sustained peace and prosperity of the world.
By investing in Africa and developing industrial capacity cooperation, especially helping African countries to develop labor-intensive industries, the Chinese businesses will create a large number of job opportunities for the local people, improve their living, and enable more African youth to go to factories, workshops, farms and office buildings to work. In that case, no one would move to the jungles to join terrorist organizations or leave their homelands to become refugees, thus Africa and the world will become more harmonious and stable.
Chinese leaders attach high importance to developing a new type of partnership with Africa featuring win-win cooperation. The essence of the policy of the new Chinese leadership is that China is willing to integrate its own development with independent and sustainable development of African countries, so as to realize common development and make the world more balanced, harmonious and prosperous.
Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi summarized the four principles China adheres to in international industrial capacity cooperation, which are “the right approach to righteousness and benefit, win-win cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, and market-based operation”. Wang Yi stressed that China’s industrial capacity cooperation with other countries will not come at the cost of environment and long-term interests of others. China will never take the old colonial path of looting and damaging others’ resources. So China says, so China does.
Lin Songtian is the Secretary-General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Director-General of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Former Chinese Ambassador to Liberia and Malawi.