FOCAC Meeting: Diplomacy, Trade, Investment, Aid and the Environment

The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa has just released three timely policy briefings on China-Africa issues in the run-up to the next Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing in mid-July. The Centre believes FOCAC will focus this year on the sustainability of the relationship as a result of changing political expectations in Africa towards the relationship with China, changing economic policies in China, and common challenges in addressing environmental concerns.

Click here to access the briefing on FOCAC's political role and function. Click here to access the paper on Sino-African trade, investment and aid. Click here to access the briefing on the environmental challenges facing both China and Africa.

Note that the paper on trade and investment relies entirely on Chinese government data. It would benefit from also drawing on International Monetary Fund trade statistics and independent sources for Chinese investment totals in Africa, which the paper understates by relying exclusively on Chinese official figures.