Forum On China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which was founded in 2000, is a platform for the PRC and most of the African countries to come together (Tulga, 2018). FOCAC is one of the most important parts of China's strategic plan for the African continent. FOCAC works for the development of all aspects of Sino- African relations as part of "South-South" cooperation. FOCAC became an alternative to the IMF, Bretton Woods, and the World Bank (Tulga, 2018).
Before the FOCAC, China Africa bilateral trade volume was 2 billion dollars (Wu and Bai, 2017). After the FOCAC, trade volume between China and African states started to increase and rose to 40 billion dollars in 2007 (FOCAC, 2012). This trade volume became $114 billion in 2010 (FOCAC, 2012). Chinese direct foreign investment to Africa also increased with the establishment of FOCAC. It was merely $500 million in 2003, but it rose to $ 9 billion in 2009 (Wu and Bai, 2017). The trade volume between China and Africa was $ 10.5 billion in 2000 (Wu and Bai, 2017). After the FOCAC, it started to rise (FOCAC, 2012). The volume of trade rose to 40 billion dollars in 2005 and in 2011 it became 166 billion dollars (FOCAC, 2012). After the establishment of FOCAC, in 2009, the PRC became the largest trading partner of Africa by passing the United States (Tulga, 2018).
This year's FOCAC meeting took place in Beijing, China. There was a news on South China Morning Post about this year FOCAC meeting on PRC's African Aid. According to Wong and Zhou (2018), PRC will double her financial aid and investment pledges to Africa. In this meeting, PRC's president Xi Jinping announced that PRC would waive the debts of the poorest African countries that have diplomatic ties with PRC.
President Xi said that PRC does not attach political strings to her investments to African statesunder the initiative, nor did it interfere in the internat affairs of African states. And, Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, said that Africa is not a zero-sum game. Africa's growing relationships with PRC do not come at anyone's expense.
The most important reason for these statements by the Chinese and Rwandan presidents is the debate among western scholars about whether China is neo-colonialist or not. Nowadays, PRC’s expanding role in the world and also the emergence of Chinese internationalization has been carefully analyzed not only by academics and business leaders but also by press professionals (Wang, 2010). China’s growing number of aid to Africa and its political and economic engagement with different countries are attracting more attention and analysis. Whether PRC is the neo-colonialist or not is located at the center of these analyzes.
In my opinion, it is too early to say that PRC is a neo-colonialist in Africa and we don't have enough evidence about this topic. But, in current case, according to economic data, we can not say that PRC is a neo-colonialist in Africa.
RELATED LINKS: 1)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327666346_The_African_views_on_China's_African_Policy
2)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323615624_African%27s_View_about_China%27s_African_Policy
