MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

Cooperation in industrial investment has long been a vital component of China-Africa relations. Guided by the outcomes of successive Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summits, both sides have deepened their cooperation across various industrial sectors, aligning high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Together they have built a comprehensive system of industrial investment cooperation, accelerating Africa's industrialization and modernization and setting a model for solidarity and self-reliance among Global South countries.

Africa holds an important position in China's diplomatic strategy. China's four global initiatives and its vision of a community with a shared future for humanity align with the AU Agenda 2063 and African industrialization strategies. Over 30 African countries have joined the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative.

Since its inception in 2000, FOCAC has become a model of South-South cooperation. At the 2024 FOCAC Beijing Summit, bilateral relations between China and all African countries with diplomatic ties with China were elevated to strategic relations, and the overall characterization of China-Africa relations was elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Every FOCAC action plan has included chapters on investment and industrial cooperation.

The core of this cooperation lies in energy, minerals and manufacturing, which are crucial for Africa's industrialization and economic diversification. Chinese enterprises are actively involved in oil and gas exploration, pipeline construction and the development of critical minerals, including copper, cobalt and lithium.

They also engage in manufacturing sectors such as textiles, light industrial products, building materials, home appliances, automobile assembly and engineering machinery.

China has established 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa. Over nearly three decades, Chinese enterprises have been developing close to 100 industrial parks across Africa, with more than half focusing on processing and manufacturing.

Notable examples include the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Egypt and the East Africa Trade and Logistics Industrial Park in Tanzania, which has attracted more than 400 SMEs and is expected to create over 20,000 local jobs.

Development assistance cooperation has evolved from merely expanding in scale to improving quality, combining grant aid with mutually beneficial trade and investment. It is a gradual shift from pure aid toward a model combining aid, financing, debt treatment and capacity building.

Through "Small and Beautiful Projects", the share of livelihood projects in health, agriculture, poverty reduction, vocational education, clean drinking water, and maternal and child health has risen markedly.

China and Africa continue to improve a multidimensional and multi-tiered cooperation framework. China has signed BRI memorandums of understanding with 52 African countries and the AU, and the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development with 40 African countries. In 2024, the State Council approved the General Plan to Establish a Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, supporting Hunan province in building an international platform. Many African countries have also offered investment incentives.

African countries need industrial upgrading. China, with its comprehensive industrial capabilities, offers significant advantages in infrastructure cooperation, addressing the bottlenecks that constrain Africa's industrialization and providing integrated solutions in transport, energy and municipal services. Mineral processing and energy-sector cooperation empowers Africa's local manufacturing system.

With a population exceeding 1.4 billion and a high growth rate, Africa offers abundant, cost-competitive labor. UNCTAD projects that by 2050 Africa will account for more than 50 percent of global population growth.

The African Continental Free Trade Area has entered a substantive implementation phase, covering 48 ratifying countries with a goods-trade liberalization rate exceeding 90 percent.

A unified market covering 1.4 billion people and a GDP of over $3.4 trillion is now taking shape.

Africa is an important raw-material producing region, and its rich reserves of critical minerals match China's massive industrial demand. In new energy, Africa is rich in solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal resources, while China possesses mature technologies, equipment, and full industrial-chain layouts. Chinese technologies are well-suited to Africa's level of industrialization: Africa has abundant green energy resources, a growing workforce, an untapped digital market, and policies supporting regional integration; China has advanced industrialization technologies, cost-effective project delivery capabilities, and long-term development experience, with competitive domestic industries seeking new overseas markets.

Deepening China-Africa industrial investment cooperation aligns China's capital, technology, equipment, and market channels with Africa's resource endowments, policy advantages, and labor resources.

It not only meets China's resource needs for industrial upgrading but also helps African countries convert their resource advantages into industrial strengths and achieve long-term sustainable development. As the Global South rises amid unprecedented global changes, deepening practical cooperation benefits the development and livelihoods of both sides.

By enhancing top-level design and focusing on traditional manufacturing, clean energy, and digital technology, both sides can elevate China-Africa industrial investment cooperation to new heights, advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and building a higher-level all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Xie Lincan is a researcher at the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission and Wan Zhigao is a graduate student at the School of International Studies at Peking University.