At the same time, people-to-people exchanges are becoming increasingly frequent. By the end of 2013, China had trained a total of 54,000 officials and technicians for African countries and sent to Africa technical personnel, young volunteers and agricultural experts more than 360,000 person-times. In all, 37 Confucius institutes and 10 Confucius classrooms have been set up in 31 African countries. At present, there are also 43 Chinese medical teams serving in 42 African countries and regions.

And according to a conservative estimate, there are now more than 1 million Chinese in Africa and the number of Africans that come to China for study, doing business and exchanges is also increasing rapidly. It is said that there are about 200,000 Africans living in Guangzhou, with an annual growth rate of 30 to 40 percent. In 2013, there are about 33,000 African students in China.

All in all, to enhance the traditional friendship between China and Africa and achieve sustainable development of relations, efforts must be made through both official and people-to-people channels to enhance communication and mutual trust between Africa and China from the higher levels to the grassroots. Only in this way can the foundation of public opinion required for the common development of China and Africa be mutual and stable.

The author is a senior fellow with the Chahar Institute and a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.