China’s Comprehensive Strategic and Cooperative Partnership with Africa

Convened in South Africa in December 2015, the 6th Summit Meeting of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) culminated in the Johannesburg Action Plan under the theme ‘China–Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development’. An accompanying declaration upgraded FOCAC to a ‘new type of comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership’, linking Africa’s transformation aspirations to China’s own ongoing transformation. This IDS Policy Briefing investigates the content of the Johannesburg Action Plan; examines its geopolitical, intellectual and systemic dimensions; and identifies wider policy implications.