China has outmaneuvered everybody else in the strategic calculations with respect to cultivating relationships with Africa. In the recently concluded fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on China-Africa strategic partnership, President Hu Jintao pledged a US$20 billion of credit line for African countries in the next three years—double the amount of what China promised to lend Africa at the last joint forum three years ago.
FOCAC is a strategically-oriented move launched in October 2000 between China and African countries for collective consultation, dialogue, and partnership. The Conference happens in every three years and 500 participants, including heads of state and top minsters from China and 50 African countries participated in this year’s conference in Beijing.
