The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from September 4 (today) to 6 in Beijing. The leaders of China and Africa will gather around the theme “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future” to celebrate friendship and chart the way forward for cooperation. It is the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.

Dr. Taling T. Rodrigue is Vice Director at the Center for Francophones Studies at Zhejiang Normal University. He is one of the African scholars who co-signed a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping and received a reply recently from the President. Rodrigue says Africa’s collaboration with China has huge potential to address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges, such as poverty, infrastructure and tech advancement.