A decoration for the 2024 Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is seen on display near the China National Convention Center in Beijing on August 30, 2024. This year's FOCAC will be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6. Photo: VCG

As many leaders from African countries arrived in China for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), some visited various Chinese localities in addition to Beijing, where the summit is set to take place from Wednesday to Friday. 

These trips by African leaders spotlighted one key element of burgeoning China-Africa ties - pragmatic cooperation among localities in China and African countries. The visits also highlighted cooperation between Chinese localities and African countries in different fields based on different development advantages, experts noted. 

On Sunday, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi met with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng in the Chinese financial hub. In addition to cooperation in areas such as agriculture, mining and energy, Shanghai stands ready to strengthen cooperation in port construction, and port and shipping services, so as to build interconnections between China and Africa, Gong said, pointing to the significance of Mozambique's Maputo Port.
 
Nyusi praised Shanghai's modernity and the major achievements made by Shanghai and China as a whole, while expressing hope that more Chinese people will learn about Mozambique, conduct friendly exchanges and explore more possibilities of investment cooperation, according to a statement by the Shanghai municipal government. 

On Saturday, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa met with Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hunan Provincial Committee, in Changsha. Shen said that Hunan attaches great importance to its traditional friendship with Zimbabwe, and the two sides have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in the economy, trade, medical and health, and cultural exchanges in recent years. 

Mnangagwa said that he was impressed by Hunan's technological innovation and advanced manufacturing development, and he welcomed more Hunan enterprises to invest and establish businesses in Zimbabwe, according to Hunan Daily.

On Thursday, President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera met with Yuan Jiajun, secretary of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, in Chongqing.
 
Yuan said Chongqing stands ready to carry out pragmatic cooperation in such fields as the economy, trade, infrastructure, education and culture, and agriculture. Touadera said that the Central African Republic will actively promote friendly exchanges with Chongqing, and welcome more enterprises from Chongqing to invest and operate in the country, according to an official statement.

These are just some examples of visits by African leaders to various Chinese localities, and these trips underscored the vitality of cooperation between China and African countries at the local level, experts said. 

Thriving local cooperation

"More and more Chinese provinces and municipalities have actively carried out cooperation with African partners, which further strengthened the overall vitality of China-Africa cooperation by sharing local industrial advantages and governance experiences," Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Song noted that African countries are seeking cooperation with Chinese localities that share similar development advantages and aspirations, pointing to Hunan's rise as a trailblazer in China-Africa cooperation through various platforms. 

Hunan has hosted the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo three times, with the latest edition held in 2023. The China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone has the task of building a "demonstrative highland" of cooperation between China and Africa. Hunan, which is home to the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, is also helping African countries ensure food security and reduce poverty, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Yang Baorong, director of African Studies of the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that by visiting different Chinese localities, African leaders showed a strong desire to promote the implementation of major cooperation projects, so as to lift their domestic economic development. 

"Different African countries have different needs for cooperation with different Chinese localities, and these differentiated cooperation arrangements between African countries and Chinese localities are also a crucial element in China-Africa cooperation," Yang told the Global Times on Monday.