Analysis of the effectiveness of cooperation between China and the African Union within the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The authors study the cooperation between China and the African Union during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Forum on China-Africa cooperation, and consider the peculiarities of relations between China and the African continent. The article studies China’s regional interests before and during the pandemic. Using the analysis of China’s humanitarian work in Africa and its comparison with the assistance of the U.S., Europe, and Russia, the authors detect the obvious interest of Beijing in the cooperation with the countries of the continent, and its urge to press the U.S.’s hegemony in Africa and strengthen China’s positions in the region through cooperation within the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation bypassing other global actors. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the analysis of cooperation between Beijing and the African continent in the context of the Forum on China-Africa in the coronavirus period. In the pre-COVID epoch, China’s activities in Africa, its political, economic and imperial ambitions have been actively studied; the economic, political and military perversion of China through the Forum on China-Africa, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Region and China’s initiatives like “One belt and one road” have been studied thoroughly. However, the assessment of the COVID period has become possible only recently when the results of new cooperation concepts became visible. The authors formulate the following conclusions. The effectiveness of cooperation between China and Africa in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic is still high and is further deepening. The Forum on China-Africa, in which each country of the African Union is represented and has a voting right on the equal basis with other member-states, plays a significant role in cooperation strengthening. The authors believe that it is early days yet to speak about China’ supremacy over the U.S. and Europe in Africa, but Beijing is moving in this direction.