FOCAC coordination meeting in China
From Tuesday to Thursday, the ministerial meeting of those responsible for coordinating the implementation of the follow-up measures of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) took place in Changsha, the capital of the central Chinese province of Hunan. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi received high-ranking representatives from 53 African countries and the African Union (AU). Together, they discussed the further implementation of the FOCAC Action Plan 2025-2027 adopted at the FOCAC summit in Beijing in September 2024 (Press Review CW 36/2024) and discussed further steps to deepen the African-Chinese partnership. Participants included Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola and Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The coordination meeting, which also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the forum, was opened with written messages from Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso, co-patron of FOCAC. Both emphasised the importance of the African-Chinese partnership and the progress made since the last summit. In the Changsha Declaration published on Wednesday, the participating countries and the AU reaffirmed the goal of building the ‘all-weather partnership’ between China and Africa formulated in the Beijing Declaration (2024) – a cooperation based on mutual respect, joint development and overcoming global challenges. At the same time, the signatories spoke out in favour of strengthening development cooperation, fair trade conditions and increased international support for African countries.
In the Changsha Declaration, China announced its intention to grant all 53 African countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Beijing duty-free access to all Chinese tariff lines in the future. This is to take place within the framework of an economic partnership agreement still to be negotiated. The aim is to position African quality products more strongly on the Chinese market, promote trade and support Africa’s economic development. The Kingdom of Eswatini, which is the only African state to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan and therefore does not support China’s so-called one-China policy, remains an exception to this. In addition to the zero-duty treatment for 100 percent of customs tariff lines already promised at the 2024 FOCAC summit, further measures were announced, including easier market access, more efficient customs clearance procedures and improved inspection and quarantine measures. These are intended to facilitate the movement of goods, strengthen expertise through training and expand the international marketing of African products. The Changsha Declaration also reaffirmed the will to swiftly implement the ten partnership initiatives for modernisation. These were already agreed at the last FOCAC summit. The focus is on key sectors such as green industry, e-commerce, digital payment systems, science and technology and artificial intelligence. Cooperation in the fields of security, financial affairs, and the rule of law is also expected to be further strengthened.
The signatory states clearly criticise one-sided trade practices and protectionist measures, which are described as ‘economic bullying’ and significantly impair the economic and social development of African and other developing countries. In particular, US tariff policy was cited as a challenge to the international trade order. The declaration calls on the United States to resolve trade conflicts on the basis of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit and to take greater account of the special development needs of African countries.
The coordination meeting took place immediately before the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which will also be held in Changsha from Thursday to Sunday under the motto ‘China and Africa: Together Toward Modernization’ and aims to further deepen the partnership between China and African countries. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, there are already signs of a significant deepening of relations within the framework of FOCAC. China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 16 years in a row. Since the 2024 FOCAC summit in Beijing, China has provided additional investment of over 13.3 billion yuan (approx. 1.7 billion euros) and financing of more than 150 billion yuan (approx. 19.5 billion euros). In the first five months of 2025, the bilateral trade volume reached 963 billion yuan – an increase of 12.4 percent year-on-year and a record figure for this period.
Criticism of the Chagos Agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius
On Tuesday, a UN panel of experts sharply criticised the agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius on the Chagos Islands. The experts warned that it does not adequately protect the rights of the Chagossian people and called for the ratification to be suspended and for a new agreement to be negotiated.
The agreement, which was only signed at the end of May, regulates the future sovereignty over the island territory in the Indian Ocean. The United Kingdom separated the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965 to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. Even after independence from Mauritius three years later, the archipelago remained a British Overseas Territory. In the early 1970s, around 1,500 inhabitants were forcibly relocated from the islands to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for the construction of the military base on Diego Garcia. Some also settled in England, mainly in West Sussex. The agreement provides for sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago to be returned to Mauritius. However, the United Kingdom retains control of the strategically important airbase on the island of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago, which is operated jointly with the USA. For the continued operation of this military base, the United Kingdom will pay Mauritius 101 million pounds (approx. 119 million euros) annually for a period of 99 years.
This part of the agreement in particular has been criticised by the UN panel, which was set up by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor the process and acts as an independent body. Nicolas Levrat, Ashwini K.P., Bernard Duhaime and Bina D’Costa criticise the fact that the agreement does not provide for a comprehensive right of return for Chagossians to Diego Garcia. Access to cultural sites on the island is also not guaranteed, which would curtail the cultural rights of the population. Furthermore, the agreement would not contain any commitments with regard to restitution, compensation or guarantees of non-repetition. There is a planned trust fund totalling 40 million pounds (approx. 47 million euros), which is intended to support the approximately 10,000 Chagossians worldwide. However, it is questionable whether this fulfills the right to an effective legal remedy and to appropriate, effective and swift compensation. Furthermore, the affected population groups were not sufficiently involved in the negotiations.
The agreement was also criticised in the United Kingdom. The signing of the agreement was initially blocked by a British court after two Chagossian women living in the UK filed a last-minute lawsuit. They argued that the agreement does not guarantee the right to return to their home island. The Conservative Tories also reject the agreement and accuse Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party of a disadvantageous agreement at the expense of taxpayers and the Chagossian population. A bill introduced by the Tories aims to block the ratification of the agreement in parliament. Starmer, on the other hand, defended the agreement as necessary in terms of security and defence policy. The threat of international legal disputes following the judgement of the International Court of Justice in 2019, which recommended the cession of sovereignty to Mauritius, had made it necessary to conclude the agreement. The USA also expressly supports the agreement. US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the agreement and emphasised the strategic importance of Diego Garcia for stability in the Middle East, South East Asia and East Africa. There were also positive voices from the UN. Talks on the agreement had been repeatedly delayed in the past, partly because of the government change in Mauritius and discussions with the US. Ratification of the agreement is still pending in the United Kingdom. Parliament has until 3 July to either confirm or reject the agreement.
In other news
The africologneFestival kicked off in Cologne on Monday. Until June 22, the festival presents contemporary art with a focus on Africa, spanning theater, dance, performance, music, film, and literature across the entire city. The spotlight is on artistic perspectives from the African continent and the African diaspora. Artists from the Common LAB, a mobile laboratory for artistic research and the development of new narratives, are also part of the programme. Introductions and audience discussions accompany the programme and create space for encounters and exchange. Since 2016, the biennial festival has been organised and supported by the association afroTopia e.V., which offers a platform for creative dialogue and transnational collaboration. The focus is on productions and discourse formats that address social and political issues in the context of African realities. Through participatory approaches, the festival brings together diverse perspectives and thus opens up new meeting places. Information on the programme and tickets can be found here.