8 December 2015: Fifty African countries and China agreed to scale up their response to wildlife crime and trafficking at the Sixth Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plan 2016-2018 commits the countries to work closely to tackle illegal trade in wildlife. This commitment represents the first time that the participating countries have addressed wildlife at the FOCAC level.

China and Africa agree to “jointly fight against the illegal trade of fauna and flora products, especially in addressing endangered species poaching on the African continent, in particular elephants and rhinos” in the Action Plan. China commits to gradually scale up its assistance to Africa countries in areas related to people’s livelihoods, including wildlife and environmental protection, and to help African countries improve protection capabilities and build rangers’ capacity.

In the Action Plan, China and Africa also: express satisfaction with progress of cooperation on climate change and environmental protection and agree to further cooperation, including on biodiversity protection, desertification, sustainable forest management (SFM), renewable energy and agriculture; agree to share experience on poverty eradication; promote mutual cooperation on the blue economy; and recognize alignment between Africa’s Agenda 2063 and China’s Two Centenary Goals, among other actions. China invites the African Union (AU) to establish an office in Beijing, China, and will establish a China-Africa Environment Cooperation Center and launch the China-Africa Green Innovation Project.

At the beginning of the Summit, President Xi Jinping, China, announced ten priority programmes with Africa that will address poverty eradication and well-being, green development, health, infrastructure, industrialization, finance, agricultural modernization, trade and investment, peace and security and cultural exchanges. Xi also announced US$60 billion in support for the ten programmes.

The Second FOCAC Summit took place from 4-5 December 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, under the theme ‘Africa-China Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development.’ It was preceded by the one-day Sixth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC. FOCAC was established in 2000. [FOCAC Website] [FOCAC Johannesburg Action Plan 2016-2018] [CBFP Press Release]