On October 1, China will celebrate its 77th National Day, commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Ordinarily, that anniversary would belong to one nation, singing the National Anthem, a National Day flag-raising ceremony, vibrant flower displays and reflections on decades of transformation. But this year, China’s celebration arrives carrying something larger than national symbolism.
Just days ago, leaders of the expanded Brics family concluded the 18th Brics Summit in New Delhi. India officially handed the Brics chairmanship to China for 2027, making Beijing the host of the 19th Brics Summit and the custodian of what Chinese leaders have called the beginning of the bloc’s ‘third golden decade’ of cooperation.
These are not separate stories. They are chapters of the same conversation. A conversation about development, partnership and the growing confidence of the Global South in shaping its own future.
From an African perspective, the conversation began long before Brics, before the Belt and Road Initiative, before Chinese built railways crossed East Africa or Chinese solar panels powered villages across the continent. It began with solidarity between newly independent nations seeking a greater voice in an international system.
China’s National Day, viewed through African eyes, feels like attending and celebrating the anniversary of a friendship that has matured over generations.
Going back to history, in October 1971, when the United Nations General Assembly voted on Resolution 2758 to restore the People’s Republic of China’s seat at the UN, African countries played a decisive role within the coalition that supported Beijing’s return.
Twenty-six African states voted in favour of the resolution, reflecting the continent’s growing diplomatic influence during the post-colonial era.
Beijing has never forgotten that moment. During the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Johannesburg Summit in December 2015, President Xi Jinping remarked that ‘although China and Africa are separated by great distances, their friendship is deep-rooted and has grown stronger over time, forged through decades of standing together, supporting one another and pursuing mutual benefit and shared progress’.
Chinese leaders have long described Africa as ‘a sincere friend and reliable partner’.
He further added that ‘China and African countries are true friends in times of hardship, and such friendships must never be forgotten’, maintaining that regardless of how the international landscape evolves, the principles of equality, mutual trust and mutual support will remain the foundation of China-Africa relations.
Chinese leaders have long described Africa as ‘a sincere friend and reliable partner’.
That sentiment continues to shape China’s diplomacy. Since 1991, China’s foreign minister’s first overseas visit of the year is always to an African country. 2026 marked the 36th consecutive year for that respected tradition, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi visiting Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho from 7-12 January 2026.
The relationship that began with diplomatic solidarity now evolving into one of the world’s largest South-South partnerships.
There is a quiet elegance in this history. In 1971, Africa helped amplify China’s voice within the world’s premier multilateral institution. More than half a century later, China is advocating for a louder voice for Africa and the broader Global South in global governance, increasingly within Brics.
History remembers who stood beside it.
To appreciate China’s development story, and to understand why the China-Africa partnership carries weight today, it helps to remember where China began. In 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded, the country’s economy was worth only about $40-50 billion, with a GDP per capita of just $23.
It was ranked among the lowest countries in the world, with only a handful of nations recording lower incomes per person. Today, it is the world’s second-largest economy.
But numbers become meaningful when they travel beyond borders.
They become stories of solidarity translated into actions. African nations stood with China at a defining moment in its return to the United Nations, extending diplomatic support when China was still finding its place in the international system. Years later, Beijing’s engagement with Africa is an extension of that shared history translated into development cooperation. A partnership built on the idea that progress is strongest when it is shared.
Take for instance the Global Development Initiative (GDI), proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2021 during the UN General Assembly. 5 years later, more than 2,000 development projects and initiatives have been implemented or are underway across participating countries, covering poverty reduction, food security, healthcare, education, digital development and green growth.
Across Africa, the cooperation has become tangible.
Chinese companies have participated in the construction of railways connecting ports to inland markets, highways, deep-water ports expanding trade capacity, hydro-power stations, airports and industrial parks. China has become one of the most significant builders of physical infrastructure across Africa in the twenty-first century.
For many African countries, China’s rise did not remain a distant economic observation. It arrived through those ports, industrial parks, classrooms, hospitals, highways and marketplaces.
Beyond infrastructure, China has remained Africa’s largest bilateral trading partner for more than 15 consecutive years. Trade between China and Africa has grown from approximately $10 billion in 2000 to well over $290 billion annually, making it one of the defining economic relationships across the Global South.
Another milestone came through China’s expansion of the zero-tariff policy, granting duty free market access to China for 53 African countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the country.
Coffee from Ethiopia. Avocados and macadamia nuts from Kenya. Sesame from Sudan. Cashews from Tanzania. Cocoa products from West Africa. For African exporters, this access has been quite transformative.
The next chapter of the partnership is increasingly multilateral. At the Brics Summit in New Delhi, President Xi Jinping called for a stronger commitment to multilateralism, people-centred development, a more just international order, and deeper cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, industrial supply chains, special economic zones and services trade.
As China prepares to chair Brics in 2027, the significance of that vision will lie in its implementation.
For Africa, these priorities align closely with long-standing aspirations for greater representation in global institutions, expanded development finance, technology cooperation, industrialisation and institutional reforms, and a stronger voice in shaping the future of the Global South.
Expanded Brics now brings together 11 member states, representing nearly half of the world’s population and about 40 percent of global GDP. Its flagship institution, the New Development Bank (NDB), has approved 139 projects worth $42.9 billion in infrastructure and sustainable development, while increasingly providing financing in local currencies, including the yuan, rand and rupee, to help reduce exchange-rate risks for developing economies.
Africa is already seeing Brics cooperation translate into development financing. South Africa, a founding Brics member, has secured about $6.6 billion from NDB for 15 projects spanning renewable energy, transport, water infrastructure and urban development, while Egypt received a $500 million NDB loan for transport and energy projects.
As China celebrates their national day, many Africans can reasonably see China’s anniversary as a moment to reflect on a partnership that has shaped parts of Africa’s own development journey.
For the student studying on a scholarship in Shanghai, the engineer working on an industrial park in Ethiopia, the entrepreneur exporting agricultural products to China under expanded market access or the commuter riding the SGR in Kenya. China’s story really intersects with Africa’s. And maybe that is what South-South cooperation was always meant to become. Countries sharing experiences and mutual learning.