Introduction

The Chinese Modernization and African Development seminar was held in Eastern China, Hefei, Anhui Province, and invited forty-nine (49) delegates from African countries. Those African countries include: Liberia, Kenya, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comorin, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The participants were lodged at the Anhui Academy of Governance Institute hostel. The former party school of the Anhui provincial committee of the China People’s Party (C.P.C.), founded in 1951, was integrated with the Anhui Academy of Governance into a new institution in November 2018 that runs the 25.33-hectare south and north campuses. The school serves as a training base for leading cadres or government officials in the area of governance, particularly for the China People’s Party (CPC.

The Anhui province was established in 1667, the 6^th year of the Qing dynasty. The province was named by taking the first character from Anqing and Huizhou City. Currently, there are sixteen cities and one hundred and four counties in the province. The area of the province is 140,000 sq. km, and the permanent population is 61.21 million (Participant Manual, 2024).

The essence of the museum in the seminar was to showcase Chinese modernization and artifacts from the past Chinese dynasties: Qing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, etc.

Few of the participants arrived in the morning; later in the evening, another batch of participants arrived because they all had to use different travel routes to reach the seminar. Later that same day, the participants had a dinner at the hall, where they met and introduced themselves to each other and their country. They shared fond memories about their countries, ranging from politics, sports, and cultural differences.

Interestingly, there were friendly exchanges between the participants; they brimmed with ideas and courage as they strived for the betterment of their continent.

The next morning, which was on October 31, 2024, at 8:00 AM, the participants gathered on the 3^rd floor of the training center for dinner, and at 9:00 AM, the program of the “Chinese Modernization and African Development Seminar was launched.”

The Opening Ceremony of the Seminar

The ceremony of the seminar began in the conference hall after the arrival of the guests. The Chinese invitees were Liu Yuxi, a special representative of the Chinese government on African Affairs. Fan Zhonghou, Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs of Anhui Provincial People’s Government. Pan Liquan is the vice president of the Academy of Governance. Fang Mingyong, Director of International Cooperation, Anhui Academy of Governance. Li Hongxhou, Head of the Economics Service Division, Foreign Affairs Office of Anhui Provincial People’s Government. Cong Weixuan—section staff from the Department of African Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

During the seminar, the Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Anhui Provincial People’s Government mentioned that the Anhui Academy of Governance has twenty-one offices, sixty senior staff, one hundred and ten doctoral degree holders, one hundred and forty-seven courses, and almost two hundred people have been trained in scientific research, and one hundred ninety-seven research papers have been published.

The foundation of the Chinese Modernization and African Development seminar was based on the All-African Leaders Summit that was held in 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the summit, President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech, “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Create a Great Future for China-Africa Leaders,” calling for unity and a developmental action plan for the African Continent.

The Chinese modernization is based on a precept or regulation. These regulations are rooted in resisting the spirit of colonialism or neocolonialism and maintaining the spirit of unity and togetherness as we strive to foster our developmental goals and resist the spirit of hegemony. We should understand that unity breeds success or progress, and we must always strive to stick together even in adversity. Secondly, China intends to intensify its dialogue through communication and negotiation with Africa on different levels in achieving the Vision 2063, when Africa will be able to foster its developmental agenda, have a shared vision, and protect its sovereignty from Neocolonial nations.

China assured her African counterparts that it will work with Africa to build a high level of China-Africa solidarity, have a high level of technology, maintain peaceful coexistence among their people, and give them a sense of self-reliance.

The Anhui Museum in the provincial City

The formation of the Anhui Museum was on November 14, 1956, and was registered as a major site to be protected at the national provincial level in 2013. On September 29, 2011, the new site was finished and opened to the public with an Anhui Civilization History exhibition, showcasing: Huizhou Ancient Architecture, four treasures of the study in Anhui, the Anhui Treasures Exhibition, and Ouhaonian’s painting exhibition. Currently, the Anhui Museum has collections of almost 310,000 cultural relics from the various dynasties: the Shang and Zhou Dynasties; the Han Dynasty; the Song and Yuan Dynasties; the Ming and Qing Dynasties; ancient books, contracts, and documents of the past (participant manual, 2024).

The participants were thrilled by the high preservation of the Chinese artefacts and the modernization of their Museum. The cultural relics of the ancient Chinese were dated approximately 5,000 years ago. It is widely believed that in the City of Anqui, their museum is the only museum that the founder of the People’s Republic of China visited their museum for an inspection around (1893 – 1976).

Picture of Chairman Mao Zedong in the Anhui Museum (1893 – 1976)

The Museum keeps ancient bronze ware, ancient pictorial pots and bricks, ceramics, ancient human remains, the brain capacity of ancient humans, Chinese paintings, books, contracts, and the design of the tomb for the ancient Chinese for memorialization. The Anhui Museum was built in 1956 and was officially opened to the public in 2011. The Chinese legends have the pot labelled as the “Ding” – it was the most famous ritual vessel among all bronzes, and it was used for the cooking of meat during a sacrificial feast. During the Shang and the Zhou Dynasties, it was used as the national treasure of symbol of the royal state. The Ding was also possessed as per the ranking of the royal family. According to the Zhou Ritual system, the king could possess nine Dings, the feudal seven. Senior officials could possess five, and the common official holds three in the royal Chinese family house to simplify their rankings or positions. To be continued 

Below is the speech delivered by the African representative, Justus Thuthi from Kenya

“Excellences,

Distinguished Guests and Scholars,

Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning,

I want to thank the organizers and Anhui Academy of Governance, the host of this timely seminar on Chinese Modernization and African Development, for inviting me to address and participate in this noble discourse of promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa. On behalf of all the participants from Africa, we are grateful.

Distinguished Guests

Currently, the global community finds itself at a critical juncture where divergent perspectives on modernization, development, and anti-globalization trends intersect. This intersection represents a pivotal moment characterized by multifaceted debates and discord surrounding the trajectory of global socio-economic growth. Contemporary discourse underscores the tension between proponents advocating for intensified global modernization and development strategies to foster economic growth and development, and critics advocating anti-globalization sentiments such as politics of protectionism, isolationism, and hegemony.  Africa and China are also at a crossroads, challenging the perceived negative externalities of globalization.

For China, its independent path to modernization gathered new momentum after the 1978 reform and opening-up policies that introduced foreign capital and technology while maintaining its commitment to socialism with Chinese characteristics. This transformed China from a poor and underdeveloped economy into an economic powerhouse. Further, in embracing the philosophy of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China’s development strategy did not stop at its borders. In the 21^st century, Chinese modernization has become integral to Africa’s rising narrative, inspiring the continent’s pursuit of its independent path to modernization.

The “Going Global” strategy, especially in developing countries, has resulted in China’s cumulative investment in Africa to exceed over USD 200 billion.  Chinese companies have built railways, highways, ports, airports, special economic zones, industrial parks, and other forms of mega infrastructure projects in Africa, while still investing in small but beautiful projects such as thedrilling of water boreholes that affect the livelihoods of the common man in the villages. This has greatly improved the economic development of the continent, attracting foreign investment, promoting local employment, freeing people from poverty, and gradually moving populations towards a prosperous and well-off life.

Distinguished friends

President Xi Jinping, in his speech during the 2024 FOCAC Summit, noted that “the friendship between China and Africa transcends time and space, surmounts mountains and Oceans, and passes down through generations.”

The debate on China-Africa cooperation forms part of the ‘solidarity thesis’ that enchants the enduring relationship between the two civilizations, whose friendship is deeply rooted in ancient times and hardened in the trenches of mutual struggles against imperialism and shared aspirations for freedom and development. This relationship stretches back centuries to a time when African traders, travellers, and scholars engaged with China, and Chinese sailors undertook numerous voyages to the continent of Africa. Therefore, this collaboration mirrors contemporary China’s commitment to humanism and harmony, advocating for the belief that every individual deserves dignity and respect, and the promotion of values that uphold freedom and independence.

This is witnessed in the high-level visits from both Chinese and African leaders over the years that resulted in transformative policies that have become integral to Africa’s rising story.

Looking back in the 1980s, dubbed the “lost decade” for Africa, the externally borrowed model of modernization plunged the continent into a complex socio-economic crisis. One-party tyrannies, military coups, and dictatorships undermined Africa’s efforts to chart an alternative path to modernization and economic recovery. Africa’s traditional partners in the West, through the Bretton Woods system, responded by imposing the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which destroyed the continent’s economies rather than saving them. Modelled to adopt the colonial way of governance, most African countries were caught between the birth of modern nationalism and the quest for nationhood, as indicated by Professor Ali Mazrui.

Diseases, instability, and poverty became the trinity of discord in Africa. Africa’s quest for modernization at the time was halted.

However, at the turn of the 21st century, success in Chinese modernization began to inspire a spirit of African renaissance and the continent’s independent path to modernization. The continent adopted a “Look East Policy” and forged a new partnership with China, defined by the trinity of ‘equal partnership’, ‘cooperation’, and ‘solidarity’ in pursuit of a common future and shared prosperity. China tapped into the spirit of Pan-Africanism as the ideology driving African modernization. To effectively concretize the cooperation between the two civilizations, China’s offer of public goods has revolutionized Sino-African relations.

Distinguished Scholars

The FOCAC Summit 2024 in Beijing, themed “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future,” was attended by 53 African Countries heads of state and the chairperson of the African Union.The summit adopted by consensus the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

The offer of global public goods by China (namely – the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security

Initiative (GSI), Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa (HoA), and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) have played a huge role in revolutionizing Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the global sustainable development. China has engaged each of the African Union’s 54 member states out of 55 bilaterally, and further upstaged it to the continental level.

For China, its transformative path of modernization and now the adoption of high-quality productive forces advocating for innovation-driven development will become a catalyst for growth and development for countries in the Global South. Through its peaceful rise, China has managed to achieve its industrialization goals and become the first country to achieve the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development by lifting over 850 million people out of absolute poverty, the largest in human history. This has enabled China to become the world’s second-largest economy, top trader in goods, biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves, and the largest manufacturer, taking the title as ‘world’s factory’.  Currently, over 400 million Chinese have joined the middle class—the world’s largest middle class in a single country, while at the same time putting over 1.4 billion people on course toward true modernization.

This achievement has enabled China to remain Africa’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, with bilateral trade reaching a record USD 282.1 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 1.5 percent.  

In conclusion, the collaboration between China and African countries holds significant benefits for both parties, fostering mutual support for development. These ties with Africa stand as one of the pillars and dependable facets of China’s foreign relations with developing nations. Also, through the provision of diverse “global public goods,” China is bolstering connectivity, promoting infrastructure development, promoting ecological civilization, and facilitating industrialization in

Africa. China’s remarkable success in its modernization process has not only served as inspiration but has also empowered Africa in its quest for an independent path to modernization through supporting the African Union, Agenda 2063, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), among other continental initiatives.

Indeed, the convergence of Chinese modernization and the ‘African Renaissance dream’ has transformed the continent’s image from that of a “hopeless continent” as perceived by some Western-led media houses in 2000 to a “hopeful continent” and a new frontier for global trade and foreign investments more than two decades later. Certainly, through harmony in development, the future cooperation between China and Africa is characterized by optimism and promise. By quoting President Xi, Modernization should be open and win-win,put the people first,feature diversity and inclusiveness, bejust and Equitable,and be underpinned by peace and Security.

Thank You!!”

John Gayflor