FOCAC improves trust, people-to-people relations: South African scholar

JOHANNESBURG - The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has brought about increased investment and trade, improvement in trust and people-to-people relations between Africa and China, a South African scholar said on Thursday.

The director for the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg David Monyae made the remarks at a webinar about the FOCAC.

The event was hosted by South African think tank Human Sciences Research Council in partnership with agencies and research centers including the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa's Development (AUDA-NEPAD).

Monyae said the FOCAC has become a significant event in the international calendar with both economic and people-to-people relations between China and Africa having improved greatly.

The FOCAC has resulted in political trust and become a multilayered mechanism for cooperation in the past 21 years, said Yu Yong, Minister Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in South Africa.

The development of China is beneficial to Africa, which has benefited from China's infrastructural development assistance, according to Siphamandla Zondi, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Johannesburg.

Head of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program at AUDA-NEPAD Martin Bwalya said he expected the relations between China and Africa to continue deepening.