Shortly after the feast of Eid-al-Adha, China welcomed a family reunion of FOCAC ministers, in Changsha this time, birthplace of Chairman Mao, founder of the People’s Republic of China.
On 11th June, the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Changsha. Minister Mamadou Tangara and Minister Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof from The Gambia, joined the gathering with some over 100 ministerial officials from FOCAC member states. President Xi Jinping and President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the forum’s African co-chair, the Republic of the Congo, sent congratulatory letters. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. A Declaration entitled China-Africa Changsha Declaration on Upholding Solidarity and Cooperation of the Global South was issued, marking an early progress in implementing the outcomes of the FOCAC Summit held in Beijing last September.
As the world’s largest developing country and the continent with the highest concentration of developing nations, China and Africa represent the backbone of the Global South. Over the past 25 years, FOCAC has driven the vigorous growth of China-Africa cooperation, elevating bilateral relations to the best time ever in history. Last September, the FOCAC Beijing Summit ushered China-Africa relations into a new phase of jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Both sides agreed to stay committed to the six-point proposition on the joint endeavor to advance modernisation, and to implement the ten partnership actions for modernisation. Key areas of cooperation include green industries, e-commerce and digital payments, science and technology, and artificial intelligence, alongside deepened collaboration in security, finance, and rule of law. Plans were also outlined in the Concept Paper of 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. Shoulder-to-shoulder, China and Africa further solidified strategic trust, practical cooperation, and multilateral coordination, injected hope into Global South revitalisation, and strengthened international fairness and justice.
The current international situation is intertwined with turbulence and chaos, yet the Chinese and African peoples have discerning eyes. It is crystal clear who promotes unity versus division, who champions cooperation versus confrontation, and who upholds righteousness versus self-interest. The more challenges and pressures we face, the more resolutely China and Africa must strengthen solidarity and self-reliance, standing firmly on the right side of history to steer the course of the times. China is committed to sharing the opportunities of its modernisation drive and leveraging its vast market to empower African and Global South partners. Through agreements like the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development, China is ready to implement zero-tariff policy on 100% of taxable products for 53 African countries with diplomatic ties, on top of which enhanced export facilitation for least-developed nations will be further explored. At sidelines of the meeting, China and The Gambia signed protocols on quarantine and sanitary requirements for groundnut and cashew nut export to China. We are hopeful that more and more top quality Gambian agricultural products will have their fare share of the China market.
As the Changsha Declaration put it, the rise of the Global South reflects the trend of our times. Both China and Africa are integral forces in this movement. The 21st century belongs not only to Asia but also to Africa. While China advances its modernisation to achieve national rejuvenation, Africa is undergoing a new awakening, steadily progressing toward the modernisation goals outlined in the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 of the African Union. Together, China and Africa will uphold mutual assistance as guardians of Global South solidarity, champion openness and international free trade, pursue win-win cooperation in global development, defend fairness and justice in the international order, promote cultural diversity through exchanges and mutual learning.
On the journey to modernisation and a shared future, China and The Gambia are good partners. Guided by the consensus of President Xi Jinping and President Adama Barrow, China looks forward to working with The Gambia to seize historic opportunities, further deepen mutual political trust, enrich strategic partnership, and fully implement FOCAC outcomes, by strengthening cooperation in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, health care, trade, education and capacity-building, opening a new chapter in China-Gambia relations, so as to better benefit the two peoples. I am convinced, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, China and The Gambia can make our strong strategic partnership even stronger.
