The Sixth Shanghai Workshop on Global Governance
“China-Europe-Africa Cooperation: Chances and Challenges”

14.-15. März 2008, Shanghai

The partnership between China and Germany and between China and the European Union (EU) is growing stronger. The Shanghai Workshop on Global Governance used to be an Asian-European forum on foreign and security policy. In 2008, the sixth forum is intended to be a Sino-European-Africa forum, since the relationship between the three actors is undergoing changes and is especially relevant in terms of current and future prospects of global governance. Just as the previous five, this forum features open political dialogue on the non-governmental or track-two level. It aims to contribute to an open exchange and dialogue and enhance cooperation between these three important actors.

Against the background of the globalization process, the relationships between China, Europe and Africa have been improved in many kinds, but also become more complex. The Sino-Africa relations have entered a new phase since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation/FOCAC held in Beijing in November 2006. China’s president Hu Jintao pointed out: “China will strengthen cooperation with Africa in the following fields: First, deepen political relation of equality and mutual trust. Second, broaden win-win economic cooperation. Third, expand exchange for cultural enrichment. Fourth, promote balanced and harmonious global development. Fifth, strengthen cooperation and mutual support in international affairs”. He also announced the country’s intention to double, by 2009, the development aid it provides. Besides the increasing engagement in Economic Assistance, several agreements between Chinese enterprises and African governments and companies were signed on the sidelines of the conference for further economic cooperation.

While the economic and political relations between China and Africa have intensified dramatically in the last years, the relationships between the European countries and Africa are changing as well. In 2005, the EU formulated an Africa Strategy designed to place partnership with African countries on a new footing. It is the first European political framework to address Africa as a single entity and a solid platform to improve the coordination, coherence and consistency of the EU`s policies and instruments in their cooperation with African countries. Moreover, the strategy emphasizes investment in infrastructure and rural development, institutional support to the African Union/AU, Good Governance and Human Rights as well as in post-conflict reconstruction.

The EU and its member states are concerned about the development of Sino-African relations in some aspects, such as the engagement of China in Sudan and Angola, since they fear that it might undermine past and current development cooperation under the criteria of political conditionalities. China in this context regards its relations towards Africa under the supremacy of non-interference in the internal affairs of another state and a strict separation between economic cooperation and political conditionalities. Concerns have also been voiced regarding presumably resource-oriented regional strategies of China in oil rich countries. On the other hand, in China also exist some doubts about the purpose of European engagement in Africa, considering the colonial heritage. African countries, on their side, welcome the additional cooperation partner, but are concerned about the missing common African approach towards China, since by now almost all cooperation is bilateral.

Besides these critical aspects, many of the goal criteria formulated by Europe and China in their policies towards Africa are in many respects compatible (i.e. reduce poverty, enhance infrastructure, fight against epidemic diseases). However, there are no new forms of cooperation and only little coordination between China and Europe concerning development aid and international agreements or initiatives for Africa so far. Perceiving the African perspectives towards China’s and Europe’s contemporary African policy could provide the best way of a constructive dialogue towards a harmonization of the approaches from both actors towards Africa.

The trilateral relations among China-EU-Africa have been gradually tightened and are today involving cooperation in an increasing number of sectors; however, they need to be improved. There certainly are divergences in interests, perceptions, definitions and strategies in the bilateral and multilateral relations among China, Europe and the African continent, which therefore create the need for a dialogue of mutual benefit. This dialogue should be rooted in a learning process among equal partners, in a commitment of all the actors to the Millennium Development Goals/MDGs and the coherent development policies that follow from it.

The 6th Shanghai Workshop on Global Governance shall therefore review most recent developments and concentrate on the following topics:

• Characteristics and perceptions of current trilateral relations among China, Europe and Africa in the process of globalization
• Cooperation strategies of China, Europe and Africa towards each other
• African perceptions and strategies on Afro-China and Afro-European relations
• Future prospects for a China-Europe-Africa cooperation

The workshop is jointly organized by the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), a think tank on international affairs in China, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a German political foundation and a private non-profit institution committed to social justice, international understanding, peace and development worldwide.

The workshop invites participants from China, Germany and other EU member states and African countries. It aims at engaging all participants in an open and constructive debate. The workshop will be held in Chinese and English (simultaneous translation will be provided), and it is expected that a total of up to 40 participants will attend – among them scholars from think tanks and academia as well as officials, parliamentarians and representatives from regional organizations.

Download: Tagungsprogramm (englisch, PDF-Datei)
                Report (englisch, PDF-Datei)