The partnership under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is the most dynamic relationship that China has with Africa and Africa has with China, and China’s development is to the benefit of both China and the global community, said an official from South Africa during the 12th senior officials meeting of the FOCAC, held in Beijing on November 24.

In the recent 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping outlined the new era for the development of not only China, but also the global community, said Anil Sooklal, Deputy Director-General for Asia and Middle East Affairs at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, co-chair nation of FOCAC, in a group interview with Chinese reporters.

Sooklal said that China’s development is not selfish development. It is to the benefit of both China and the global community. You can see this with FOCAC as an example. FOCAC is a partnership between true equals, a partnership between long-standing friends.

China is using its own development experience to help Africa develop. And in China, Africa has a very solid friend and a very solid partner. The continent can draw from China’s experience to fast track its development. This is what FOCAC is about. It aims to help Africa rectify and grow its economies and strengthen its human resources by providing skills and technological development. This is why I say FOCAC is a dynamic partnership, Sooklal said.

China has made remarkable progress in economic development and has lifted more than 700 million of its population out of poverty in a very short period of time, which is of great significance for the development of African countries, said the South African official.