Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT

As the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), set to be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6, draws near, the "debt trap" slander targeting China-Africa cooperation is becoming rampant again. 

In fact, whenever the FOCAC is held, the West will always stir up a new round of smearing with absurd accussations against China.

The FOCAC was established in 2000. Over the past 20 years, China has truly promoted the modernization process in African continent through grant, investment, and trade, and has also won wide recognition and acclaim from African partners.

China has used interest-free loans to help Africa build much needed facilities such as hospitals and schools. Meanwhile, Chinese financial institutions have actively provided financing support to support infrastructure construction, such as railways, roads, and electricity facilities in African countries. 

The China-Africa Development Fund, an equity investment fund managed by the China Development Bank, has provided financing totaling more than $6.6 billion to Africa and has facilitated Chinese companies to invest more than $31 billion in Africa.

The West is the main culprit behind Africa's debt crisis. Notably, in recent years, the West believes that the African economy has shown some signs of improvement, so they prematurely pushed Africa to the global capital market, leading to African countries borrowing excessively and causing the current high proportion of external debt faced by Africa. It can be said that the West has directly pushed Africa into a "debt trap." 

Although China is not the main creditor of African countries, it actively participates in the resolution of debt issues faced by African countries and helps them explore solutions to promote development and ultimately solve their debts. China never uses debt collection as a pretext to seek private gain - this is the core difference between China's approach and that of the West in managing debt.

However, it needs to be acknowledged that the ultimate solution to the debt problem must rely on economic development. Only by helping Africa solve the bottlenecks that restrict African development, can African countries be fundamentally lifted out of the debt distress.

Currently, Africa urgently needs more development funds, as progress on several indicators of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains slow. In light of this, China will continue to roll out a package of aid measures under the FOCAC to help Africa tackle their challenges.

China has never been the main creditor for African debt. Under the framework of the FOCAC, China has provided a package of assistance measures to Africa and offered support. 

Through interest-free loans, concessional loans, and other development financing, China has provided significant support to back up Africa's development. A series of infrastructure projects and talent training have started, laying the foundation for poverty reduction and independent development in Africa.

The author is professor with School of International Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing Foreign Studies University. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn