57 JAMS 6 (1) pp. 57–70 Intellect Limited 2014 Journal of African Media Studies Volume 6 Number 1 © 2014 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jams.6.1.57_1 BoB Wekesa Communication University of China 1 Whose event? official versus journalistic framing of the fifth Forum on China africa Cooperation (FoCaC V) 2 aBstraCt The article contributes to the fledgling literature in the China–Africa communi- cations field by approaching the topic from the perspective of an event – the fifth conference of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC V). It proposes that by analysing FOCAC V specifically, and the FOCAC phenomenon generally, new and interesting insights might be gained into the interests of the various players – namely, Chinese officials, African officials and the African media. It also contributes new perspectives in leveraging the framing of a communication theory as a means of drilling down to the motivations, tensions, confluences and divergences inherent in the China–Africa relations – a transnational engagement that continues to draw animated discussions and debate in and out of academia. IntroduCtIon The Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is traceable to an African tour by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1996 (AUC 2010: 1). The precursor to FOCAC is thought to be a 1998 seminar attended by Chinese officials and their counterparts from twelve African countries (Li et al. 2012). FOCAC was keyWords China–Africa Forum on China Africa Cooperation framing African media African news African journalism 1. The author is a Kenyan journalist currently and a research associate at the University of the Witwatersrand, South: bobwekesa@gmail.com. 2. This article is part of the Wits China-Africa Reporting Project at the Department of Journalism of the University of the