Despite the financial crisis, Beijing has promised not to reduce its future assistance to Africa, said Zhang Zhongxiang, Deputy Director of the Department of West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies in a phone conversation with Beijing Review. This is clearly evidenced by Wen's commitment of $10 billion in concessional loans to African nations, Zhang said.

Meanwhile, China will pay more attention to improving African livelihoods through other assistance, such as training doctors and nurses, providing medical equipment and anti-malaria material, and supporting education development in Africa.

Another important area for future China-Africa cooperation is climate change, said Zhang. "Actually, Premier Wen placed cooperation in this area at the top of the agenda in the future," he noted.

Africa, for the most part, lags far behind the rest of the world when it comes to industrialization, he said. But the continent has been suffering greatly from the negative influences of greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries. This has led to desertification and drought. Cooperation in this field embodies one of China's greatest concerns when it comes to the realistic interests of African countries, Zhang said.

"China will make every possible effort to assist African countries in the fight against climate change," Minister Chen said.

Zhang believes that people-to-people and cultural exchanges will also offer new highlights in the Sino-African partnership in the future.

Advantages

The theme of the fourth FOCAC ministerial conference—deepening the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership for sustainable development—reflects future development trends between China and Africa, Zhang said.

He noted that China needs to further enhance the quality of African assistance programs to show greater concern toward local people's livelihoods.

While working in Africa, Chinese companies should properly coordinate their own interests with those of African countries, and strike a balance between gaining profits and benefiting local communities, he said.

In 2008, for instance, the Chinese Government issued some administrative regulations concerning the contracting of foreign projects in an effort to standardize and regulate the behavior of Chinese companies overseas.

China has a much shorter history in assisting Africa compared with Western countries, Zhang said. However, it has achieved better results because it does not interfere in the internal affairs of African countries and does not attach political strings, he said. This concept, he added, is receiving widespread praise and support among African countries.

Zhang's views are echoed by He Wenping, Director of the African Studies Section of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She noted that China has a number of advantages in cooperating with Africa over Western countries.

Historically, for one thing, China does not have a legacy of colonizing any part of Africa, said He. Currently, it has gone out of its way to stress equality in its dealings with all African nations—with embassies in each country that has established diplomatic relations with China.

Most Chinese projects in the continent have been put forward by African countries and were discussed on equal footing with Beijing. This is "evidence showing China treats all African countries as equals, regardless of size," the scholar said.

(Reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh, with additional reporting by Yan Wei in Beijing)

Major Achievements in the Past Three Years

China increased the number of zero-tariff commodities exported to China from African countries to 478, which is applicable to more than 30 African countries;

China will completely realize the goal of training 15,000 professionals for African countries by the end of this year;

A total of 194 Chinese agricultural experts have worked in 33 African countries, while construction is currently underway for 10 agricultural technology demonstration centers;

A plan for providing Artemisinin, a kind of anti-malaria drug, to African countries has been completed and all the 30 anti-malaria centers are now open for service;

Of the 96 schools China planned to construct upon request, 91 will be completed by the end of this year;

China agreed to build 28 hospitals upon request, and 26 have finished or started construction by October 2009;

The number of Chinese volunteers working in Africa will exceed 300 by the end of this year.

(Source: Chinese Ministry of Commerce; www.focac.org)

FOCAC Ministerial Conferences

The first ministerial conference of the FOCAC was held in Beijing from October 10-12, 2000.

The second ministerial conference of the FOCAC was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from December 15-16, 2003.

The Beijing Summit and the third ministerial conference of the FOCAC were held in Beijing from November 4-5, 2006.

(Source: www.focac.org)