Let the people meet and build trust

Now more than ever China and Africa need to enhance ties by bringing people face to face

Over the past decade Sino-African relations have flourished, mainly in the areas of economic, social, military, science and technology, and education. Economic cooperation tops that list, of course, with bilateral trade passing the $200 billion mark in 2013 and is widely expected to rise to $385 billion.

As is to be expected, this rapid growth had its downsides, including mistrust and feelings of exploitation, both inside and outside Africa, a potent line of thought for future China-Africa engagements. This, among other factors, has led to "China's growing presence" on the continent becoming a hot topic in global debates.

The main bone of contention is China's approach of granting loans to African states backed by natural resources, which some analysts view as unsustainable.

The resources-backed loans have no doubt contributed to the overall growth in infrastructure development in Africa in recent years. Therefore studies and debates have overwhelmingly focused on economic cooperation at the expense of other forms of relations, such as people-to-people exchanges.

Importance of strengthing people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa cannot be overstated. Having spent 10 months in China last year, working alongside Chinese journalists form various media organizations, I feel a lot has been done to promote people-to-people exchanges. But, a lot more can be done.

Exchanges not only serve to enlighten both Chinese and Africans on economic relations, but also serve to strengthen mutual understanding.

Forums that promote people-to-people exchange to demystify widely held misconceptions, such as Africa being significant to China's overall foreign economic activity, should be encouraged.

Events such as the fourth China-Africa People's Forum, held this year in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, are already promoting people-to-people exchanges as a way of strengthening cooperation.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, launched in 2000, is another platform to aid for policymakers mandated with the task of strengthening relations. The event will celebrate its 15th anniversary in December in South Africa. That forum is a milestone in relations and another pillar that has cemented China-Africa people-people exchanges through various programs, such as the China-Africa Press Center and the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program.

I was among the first group of African journalists awarded a scholarship under the China-Africa Press Center, a product of the 2012 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. After attending several meetings in different Chinese provinces, I came to one realization: The Chinese government is doing a lot more than it is being credited for in promoting China-Africa people-to-people exchanges.

During the second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, in Ethiopia's Addis Ababa in 2003, China promised to expand its African Human Resources Development Fund to train up to 10,000 African technicians over the following three years. To date, China has trained well over 60,000 African personnel through scholarships, with Chinese and African professionals interacting directly.

African students who benefit from these scholarships are sent to different parts of China and get a chance to interact with local people from 22 different ethnic groups. During my travels across China, many people asked me questions about my country, Kenya.

For example, in Dali, the county town of Dali Bai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, I met a resident from the Bai ethnic group who greeted me in Swahili after I told her where I was from. Swahili is one of the two national languages of Kenya. Apparently she had had a Kenyan classmate at Dali University.

While attending a conference on African literature at Peking University, I stumbled upon a Swahili class while I was wandering the campus. I was impressed with the level of confidence the Chinese professor exuded when we chatted in Swahili after her class had ended. The common language between us made our experience of getting to know each other even more rich and dynamic.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation should be at the forefront in diversifying people-to-people exchanges, helping to implement fully its mandate of strengthening friendly cooperation between China and Africa. Diversification of there exchanges, such as promotion of cultural, would promote Sino-African relations generally.

Establishing more Confucius Institutes in African countries, for example, would lead to more African people understanding Chinese culture and their way of doing things. There are not enough Confucius Institutes to cater for the growing interest in Africa. Opening similar institutions in China that promote African culture would also bring people closer together, too.

In my view, China's growing interest in Africa stems from shared historical experiences. Both were victims of colonization, an experience that both peoples cannot imagine reliving.

So it is imperative that Sino-African relations are built on things other than economic ties, such as shared history and mutual trust, and now more than ever people-to-people exchanges need to be strengthened to ensure prosperous future engagement.

Philip Etyang is a PhD student at Kenyatta University.