This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African nations. Over the decades, the friendship has been passed down from generation to generation, and bilateral ties have achieved leapfrog development.
Amid a complex international landscape and accelerated changes unseen in a century, China and Africa have continued to draw strength from the spirit of friendship and cooperation. Their joint pursuit of modernization has set an example for Global South cooperation, and is writing new chapters in building a better world for all.EVER-LASTING FRIENDSHIP
China and African countries are the world’s largest developing country and the continent with the most developing nations respectively. The two sides have always regarded solidarity and cooperation as cornerstones of their partnership. In 2013, Africa was among the destinations of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first overseas trip after assuming the presidency. During the visit, he put forward the principles of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith as well as the values of friendship, justice and shared interests, which set the tone for the accelerated growth of China-Africa ties in recent years. Over the past 13 years, Xi has visited Africa five times, charting the course for all-around cooperation between the two sides.
A defining moment came on Sept. 5, 2024. In his keynote speech at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing, Xi proposed elevating China’s bilateral relations with all African countries having diplomatic ties with China to the level of strategic relations, and elevating the overall characterization of China-Africa relations to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf noted that China is a trustworthy and reliable partner. At the grassroots, the friendship is equally evident. In Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East Province, a water well built by China has enabled villagers to grow sweet sorghum. “We will never forget that it was the Chinese who helped us build it,” a villager said.
In Ethiopia, entrepreneur Mulu Kemal, who attended a training program under the Global Female Entrepreneurship Empowerment Program Workshop, thanked Chinese instructors for helping her “find a direction for business development.” The African people have also come to China’s aid when it needed help. In the aftermath of the Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes, many African countries made numerous donations, helped build friendship schools for local students. Just as Xi once pointed out: “China and Africa are good friends, partners and brothers who assist and support each other.”
JOINT PURSUIT OF MODERNIZATION
On Sept. 4, 2024, Xi, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) revitalization project in Beijing. The project has since entered full-scale construction. The railway embodies deep China-Africa bonds and shared aspirations. During talks with Hassan in 2022, Xi noted that even when China was poor, it tightened its belt to help its African brothers build this railway. “Now that China is more developed, it is better placed to act on the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, help our African friends achieve common development, and build a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era,” Xi said. “The railway changed my life,” said retired Tanzanian TAZARA driver Alois Shimbaya, who spent his lifetime running trains on the railway. The groundbreaking ceremony for the revitalization project has renewed his hopes for future development.
For Zambian youth Michael Nchovo, who is now studying high-speed rail technology at Central South University in China’s Hunan Province, the news was thrilling. He said that among the Chinese builders who once travelled to Zambia to help build the railway were alumni of his university, and as a new-generation railway builder, he was ready to contribute to the upgrading of the TAZARA railway and to Africa’s modernization drive. Over the past year, China has intensified practical cooperation with African partners under the Belt and Road Initiative. China has carried out upgrades and renovations at the old Nacala Port in Mozambique, renewed the technical service agreement for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and completed track-laying for Africa’s first heavy-haul desert railway, further strengthening the continent’s connectivity foundations.
Across Africa, railways and highways continue to flourish, while landmark buildings, industrial parks and factories are rising at a faster pace, bringing Africa’s dream of modernization closer to reality, step by step. Agriculture, the foundation of many African economies, has also seen tangible benefits. Juncao technology from China has taken root in multiple African countries, improving livelihoods. In Tanzania, it has boosted the income of Tahiya Bauso Massawe, who sees Juncao as a symbol of “equality, hope and opportunity.” In Rwanda, physics teacher and school feeding coordinator, Alice Allouette Marie Munyurabanga returned from China with Juncao technology and has used the mushrooms she grew to enrich her students’ meals. She believes that these mushrooms are not only a tasty food, but also a seed that can help change the future.
In recent years, China has continued to expand market access for African countries, providing broader opportunities for shared development. China has remained Africa’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, and China-Africa trade surpassed 300 billion U.S. dollars for the first time from January to November 2025.
In June 2025, China announced its readiness to negotiate and sign the agreement of China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development, implementing zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines for 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China. On Dec. 15, 2025, about 1 ton of Benin’s pineapples arrived in central China’s Hunan Province and enjoyed zero-tariff treatment, an indication that more African goods are making their way to Chinese consumers.
TOWARD A STRONGER GLOBAL SOUTH
Recently, Hunan International Business Vocational College received a letter from Abreham Yimer Abate, chief executive of Woreda (district) 05 of Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia, expressing his wish to return to China for further studies this year.
In 2023, Abate traveled to China to attend a training program in China’s southern Hunan Province. During his visit, he toured Shibadong Village, widely recognized as the birthplace of the concept of “targeted poverty alleviation.”
Abate’s story reflects how China’s approaches and practices in tackling poverty reduction and promoting inclusive development have inspired African countries as they explore their own paths of development.
In December last year, the China-Kenya Readers Forum on “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” took place in Nairobi, Kenya, and a promotional event for the English edition of the fifth volume of “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It offers a valuable window for the Global South into how China interprets and responds to global challenges, she noted.
Currently, China is going all out to build a great modern socialist country in all respects and pursue national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization.
Along the journey toward modernization, China and Africa are learning from each other, generating a mighty force of solidarity, self-reliance and shared development across the Global South.
Humphrey Moshi, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, said that China-Africa cooperation is an important practice in strengthening the representation of Global South countries and fostering unity and self-reliance.
