The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) opens in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) provides a platform for China and Africa to deepen their cooperation on global issues, Paul Frimpong, executive director of the Africa-China Center for Policy and Advisory, a Ghana-based think tank, has said. 

The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) provides a platform for China and Africa to deepen their cooperation on global issues, Paul Frimpong, executive director of the Africa-China Center for Policy and Advisory, a Ghana-based think tank, has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Frimpong said the summit provides a platform for both China and Africa to deepen discussions on new ideas that China has been promoting in recent years.

"We are talking about the Global Development Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative, and many others," Frimpong said. "We need to broaden the conversation to get deeper and ensure that we can appreciate the civilization journey and take the lessons in there to broaden the conversation we have on the table."

The 2024 FOCAC summit, held from Sept. 4 to 6 in Beijing, brought together leaders from China and African countries under the theme "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."

Frimpong said the theme highlights the need to work together for the greater good of humanity, adding that it is about envisioning an ideal future together, where Africa and other developing countries will also be part of decision-making in the world.

He also said building a community with a shared future is about peace, "where the world does not fight over a small pie but increases the size of the pie to meet everybody's needs."

The expert stressed that the summit is important in global affairs because it gathered the leaders of a large population.

"Once Africa and China, whose combined population comes to about a third of the world population, work together on this agenda, there will be a rippling effect on other regions, notably in the Global South," Frimpong added.