China envoys deliver Xi’s invite to African leaders for September FOCAC summit

In a break with tradition, several countries have announced the date for the China-Africa cooperation forum in Beijing

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Workers clean anchovies destined for the Chinese market at a processing plant in Kenya. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00pm, 7 Jun 2024

Chinese diplomats are delivering invitation letters to leaders across Africa for the next key diplomatic event between Beijing and the continent, which will take place in September against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.

In a departure from tradition – which dictates that details of major summits are released a few weeks or days in advance – Uganda’s foreign ministry said the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will open in Beijing on September 3.

According to the ministry, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong handed over a formal invitation from President Xi Jinping to his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni at a meeting last week with Foreign Minister Odongo Jeje Abubakher.

The summit, from September 3-8, will include four simultaneous high-level meetings on different themes as well as a business forum, according to a statement about the meeting from the Ugandan ministry.

Libya, Burundi, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have also made public their invitations, which were delivered to officials in the latter two countries by Liu Yuxi, China’s special representative on African Affairs.

FOCAC, held every three years, is China and Africa’s most important engagement mechanism and where Beijing has traditionally made huge financial pledges to fund major infrastructure projects such as ports, railways, power dams and highways.