Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS) Vol. 30, No. 2 (December 2010), pp. 209-218 The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC): A Framework for China’s Re Engagement with Africa in the 21 st Century Chuka Enuka Institute of International Studies Jilin University, China chukaenuka@yahoo.com Abstract This paper offers an examination of FOCAC as a framework for Sino- African engagement in the 21 st Century. China’s growing and expanding engagement with Africa has assumed a prominent feature of International Relations and discourses. The engagement is multifaceted, encapsulating mainly trade and related economic ties. Given China’s fast economic and industrial growth, thirst and huge demand for new sources of energy and other resources has been generated, bringing China closer to Africa where the availability of these resources abound. This situates China’s renewed interest in Africa in the recent years. The deepening of economic involvement in Africa is realized through a mix of aid, special concessions, debt relief, scholarships, the provision of educational and medical training personnel and infrastructural investment projects. This represents a stark departure from the past under Mao Zedong, when the relationship was guided by the ideological conflict of the Cold War and especially Beijing’s attempts to dislodge Moscow’s influence in the Third World. Now economic pragmatism and symbolic diplomacy appear to navigate Sino-African relations. The lynchpin of China’s re- engagement of African in this century is the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), initiated at the Ministerial Conference in Beijing in 2000. The paper explores the FOCAC framework, assesses the reality of its promises, and addresses the question of its problems and challenges. Key Words: Sino-African Relation, China’s Re-engagement of Africa, Economic Development, China-Africa Cooperation Forum, Trade, Aid I. Introduction China’s growing and expanding engagement with Africa has assumed a prominent feature of International Relations and discourses. The engagement is multifaceted, encapsulating mainly trade and related economic ties. The search for natural resources explains the tremendous increase in Chinese trade and investment in Africa. China’s growing economy, especially the industrial sector, and expansion in the global economy, demand enormous supplies of mineral and energy resources, which are abundant in Africa. China has emerged as a prosperous nation and has grown by an average of 9% per annum over the last 25 years, the fastest growing rate for any major economy in recorded history. Recent reports suggest that China’s growth rate will reach as high as 13% per annum (Rotberg 2008). Industrial output has also increased by almost 50%, creating industrial overproduction in sectors like electronics, textiles and footwear. This rapid