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UPDATED: December 10, 2006 NO.44 NOV.2, 2006
THE FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION (FOCAC)
THE FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION (FOCAC) is a platform established by China and friendly African countries for collective consultation and dialogue as well as a cooperation mechanism between the developing countries.
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THE FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION (FOCAC) is a platform established by China and friendly African countries for collective consultation and dialogue as well as a cooperation mechanism between the developing countries. The First Ministerial Conference of FOCAC was held in Beijing October 10-12, 2000. The conference charted the direction for the development of a new, stable and long-term partnership featuring equality and mutual benefit between China and African countries, with the issuance of the Beijing Declaration of the FOCAC and the Program for China-Africa Cooperation in Economic and Social Development.The Second Ministerial Conference of FOCAC was convened in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, December 15-16, 2003, with the theme of “Pragmatic and Action-Oriented Cooperation.” The FOCAC Addis Ababa Action Plan (2004-2006) adopted at the conference mapped out a program for China-Africa cooperation in the political, economic, trade, social development and other spheres from 2004 to 2006. The First China-Africa Business Conference was held in parallel with the Second FOCAC Ministerial Conference. Over 500 Chinese and African entrepreneurs attended the conference, signing 21 cooperation agreements worth $1 billion.

CHINA is situated in the eastern part of the Asian continent on the western coast of the Pacific. It is the largest country in Asia and the third largest in the world, next to Russia and Canada.

The Chinese territory is around 5,500 km from the middle of the Heilongjiang River north of Mohe, Heilongjiang Province, in the north to Zengmu Ansha of the Nansha Islands in the south, and stretches for some 5,000 km from the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusulijiang rivers in the east to the Pamirs Plateau in the west. The land boundary extends for 22,800 km.

China has vast adjacent seas, with its mainland facing the Bohai Sea (nearly 80,000 square km), the Yellow Sea (380,000 square km), the East China Sea (770,000 square km) and the South China Sea (3.5 million square km) to the east and south. The area of China’s territorial seas stands at 380,000 square km. China has under its jurisdiction 6,961 islands, each having an area of over 500 square meters, with 433 of them being inhabited. In line with the principle of “one country, two systems,” another 411 islands are now under the jurisdiction of Taiwan and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. The mainland coastline is 18,000 km and that of the islands 14,000 km, giving China a total coastline distance of 32,000 km, the eighth longest in the world.

China enjoys a prominent monsoon climate. It also sees various other types of climate due to its vast territory, complicated topography and great disparity in elevation.

AFRICA is the second largest and second most populous continent in the world after Asia. The continent is surrounded by the Indian Ocean to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Suez Canal and Red Sea to the northeast. From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka in Tunisia, to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa, is a distance of approximately 8,000 km. From Cape Verde, the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun in Somalia, the most easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,500 km.

The coastline, 30,500 km long, is relatively flat and straight, with few bays and peninsulas. Africa has fewer islands than any other continent in the world. Except for Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island, all African islands are small. The combined area of the islands is about 620,000 square km, accounting for less than 3 percent of the total area of Africa.

Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous variations in climate. Generally, however, temperatures are high; areas with an annual average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius or above account for 95 percent of the continent.



 
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