Banners reading "Together for a better future" have been installed every 20 meters on Beijing's main thoroughfares, while the People's Armed Police keep watch on the bridges. China has left nothing to chance for the most important diplomatic event it has organized since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic: the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), its major tri-annual meeting with Africa, a continent it considers an indispensable ally in reshaping an international order it views as too imbued with Western values.

Nigeria's Bola Tinubu, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and DRC's Félix Tshisekedi are among the impressive number of presidents to have made the trip to Beijing. They are due to be welcomed at a grand banquet at the People's Palace on Wednesday, September 4, before a solemn speech by the Chinese president the following day.

China hopes to use this event to display a message of unity and show that it is being followed in its battle to redefine international priorities. At a time when the US is increasingly explicit in its policy of blocking transfers of microchips and high-tech components to its main strategic competitor, and Europe is erecting customs barriers against its products, China wants to emphasize that it shares with the African continent the fight to be accepted in its rightful place.

"The world is undergoing profound transformations, driven by the rise of the global South," the Chinese government's special representative for African affairs, Liu Yuxi, told reporters on Tuesday. "Our history will not go back to the old days of colonialism," he stated, also criticizing the "rise of the Cold War mentality."

For this reason, China spares no attention with regard to the 53 African countries that agree with it – the last country, Eswatini (ex-Swaziland), still maintains ties with Taipei. China's discourse is adapted to the audience: On Tuesday, Xi Jinping assured Colonel Assimi Goïta, head of the Malian junta, that China "has always supported the African people in independently deciding their future and destiny," a reference to the moral lessons coming from France in particular.

These goodwill gestures don't just last for the duration of a summit: the ties are constant. Xi has visited Africa five times; since last year alone, he has welcomed 20 African heads of state with honors. For the past 34 years, Chinese foreign ministers have reserved their first trip of the year for the continent, which is not just a matter for the diplomatic apparatus: Each ministry, each major branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and each province is responsible for a particular area of cooperation.

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