Beijing, China, Dec. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Over the past 25 years, the relationship between China and Africa has achieved a leapfrog development from a “new type of partnership” established at the first FOCAC Ministerial Meeting, to a “new type of strategic partnership,” then a “comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership,” and to an “all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era,” entering the best period in history. From the “10 cooperation plans,” “eight major initiatives,” and “nine programs” to the “10 partnership actions,” solid blueprints have been implemented one after another and key projects have been delivered and borne fruits. Over the past 25 years, especially since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, China and Africa have set a stellar example of solidarity and cooperation for the Global South through their vivid practices, painting a new picture of development characterized by mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2024 has been included in the Volume V of the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. President Xi said that China and Africa's joint pursuit of modernization will set off a wave of modernization in the Global South, and open a new chapter in building a community with a shared future for humanity. In June, President Xi sent a congratulatory letter to the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the FOCAC. It is hoped that China and Africa will continue to steadily advance the implementation of the Beijing Summit's outcomes, carefully plan the future development of the FOCAC, join hands to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity, said Xi. In the 17th installment of the special series “Decoding the Book of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China,” the Global Times (GT), along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, continues to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to discuss the theme of “joining hands to build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity,” exploring the important practical significance and value of this concept. In the 16th installment of the “Practitioner's Insights” column, Global Times spotlights how Chinese-invested wind power projects in South Africa have helped resolve the country's chronic power shortages, delivering stable electricity to more households, opened doors for young South Africans to master cutting-edge technology, and put the China-Africa shared future into vivid practice. Roughly 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa's legislative capital, near the town of De Aar in the wind-rich Northern Cape Province, a “white forest” of giant wind turbines rises from the open plain, breathing gently with the spring winds of the Southern Hemisphere. Under the bright sun, their blades cast long, sweeping shadows, and the low, steady hum feels like the powerful, confident heartbeat of this vast continent. With every turn, they vividly embody the all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. In the Northern Cape, the De Aar wind power project, with its 163 turbines of 1.5 MW each, has become a new landmark on South Africa's green-energy map. The Global Times learned from the project's investor Longyuan South Africa Renewables Ltd (Longyuan SA), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Energy Investment Group's (CHN Energy) Longyuan Power Group Corporation Ltd, the project supplies the national grid with approximately 770 million kWh of clean electricity every year, easing South Africa's chronic power shortages and turning reliable electricity for 300,000 households from a distant luxury into an everyday reality. These white turbines have woven themselves into the economic lifeblood of local communities and the everyday dreams of ordinary people, standing at Africa's southern tip as a proud witness to the 25th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the leap forward in China-Africa relations. As part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC in 2024 which was included in the Volume V of the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Xi said that China and Africa's joint pursuit of modernization will set off a wave of modernization in the Global South, and open a new chapter in building a community with a shared future for humanity. For local youth Deswin Basson, this forest of turbines is far more than an energy installation; it is a symbol of China and Africa marching toward modernization together – a “window of hope” lighting his personal path. After graduating from university, Deswin joined the De Aar wind power project in 2022 and, through dedication, quickly rose to the position of senior maintenance technician. He told the Global Times that ever since these towering “white flowers” bloomed around the town, locals have regarded them as a power that brings both light and opportunity. Neighbors and friends constantly ask him how they can also join a Chinese company and acquire skills that open doors to a better tomorrow. The 20th Group of 20 (G20) Summit opened in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22. This is the first time the G20 summit has been held in Africa. Themed “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,” the two-day event highlights a pivotal moment for Africa as it seeks to elevate its role in global governance and advance development priorities shared by the Global South. Clean energy transition, climate action, and infrastructure connectivity are among the most pressing new items on that agenda. The De Aar wind power project is China's concrete, action-driven footnote to these very issues. Power shortages, once SA's deepest wound In South Africa, many locals' phones have an app called “EskomSePush” that provides the day's load-shedding schedule in advance. In 2022, the country suffered a record 207 days of blackouts, with some areas losing power for more than 10 hours a day. Chicks froze to death in farm incubators, supermarkets slashed meat prices to avoid spoilage, and factories were forced to shut down. The power crisis became the heaviest sword of Damocles hanging over the economy, with the South African Reserve Bank estimating daily losses of around 500 million rand ($29.2 million). Coal still dominates the grid, but aging plants break down frequently, while new ones have been delayed by technical and funding constraints. In February 2023, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster over electricity and has announced Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as the new Minister in the Presidency for Electricity. Within months of taking office, Minister Ramokgopa visited China, touring Shanghai Electric, Goldwind, Huawei, and other firms. South Africa and China signed deals in 2023 covering emissions technology, electricity transmission and distribution, and nuclear power on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa. Ramokgopa said one of the deals would see Chinese companies share technology to help South Africa's struggling state utility company Eskom cut emissions from its coal-fired power plants. In recent years, Chinese companies have built and operated multiple wind and solar projects across South Africa, meeting the electricity needs of countless households while contributing to a stronger, more stable, and inclusive national grid. 'A construction miracle in South Africa' At the project's grand completion ceremony in 2017, Johnny Cullum, then general manager of Longuan SA's local partner Mulilo Renewable Energy, blurted out on the spot: “This is a construction miracle in South Africa!” The miracle he referred to was Longyuan SA's feat of erecting 163 Chinese-made 1.5 MW turbines on this barren plain in just two years, using Chinese equipment, technology, standards, and services. Deswin told the Global Times that “during construction, more than 700 local jobs meant townspeople could earn money without leaving home and finally felt secure about the future. After commissioning, the roughly 100 permanent positions became the dream of many young locals. As incomes rise, they renovate old houses and send their children to school – those dreams are coming true step by step.” Meanwhile, as South Africa's first and only wind project successfully registered for international carbon credits, the De Aar wind power project had, by 2025, certified reductions of 784,600 tons of CO2. Annual carbon-trading revenue delivers substantial “green dividends” to surrounding communities, the Global Times learned from the Longyuan SA. In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the FOCAC on September 5, 2024, Xi proposed that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations. He also proposed that the overall characterization of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era. Deswin still vividly recalls the excitement surrounding the Summit. He told the Global Times that during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, President Xi's visit captured widespread attention in South Africa. “Many colleagues and friends of mine closely followed his itinerary and speeches, hoping to draw wisdom from the development vision articulated by the Chinese leader.” Four years ago, 29-year-old Deswin was a lost young man living hand-to-mouth on casual jobs. When the De Aar wind power project arrived, he became one of the first trainees at the Longyuan SA wind power training base. On the first day, staring at a giant electrical schematic covered in dense lines and symbols, he was utterly bewildered. His Chinese mentor Sheng Bin noticed his distress, took him to the canteen, and used chopsticks, bowls, and a teapot as props: “See, the chimney is the tower, the windshield is the wind vane…” The simple analogy unlocked everything. In less than a year, Deswin went from knowing nothing to standing duty independently. “They never held anything back,” Deswin said. “They told us: Teach you for one day, and you can do it for a lifetime.” In 2024, as an outstanding trainee representative, he boarded a plane to China for the first time. At the Longyuan wind farms in Jiangsu, he saw turbines even larger and more numerous than in De Aar and witnessed China's renewable-energy achievements firsthand. Only then did he realize: What he had learned was not just a job, but a future that could be replicated across the entire African continent. Today, Deswin is the “best successor” in the eyes of his Chinese mentors. He has used part of his salary to buy new furniture for his parents and fund his younger brother's university studies. Stories like Deswin's abound in De Aar. Longyuan SA has held three rounds of new-energy vocational training, sending 116 local youth from the classroom to the top of the turbines. An annual 4.5 million-rand scholarship program has supported 112 students from poor families – Deswin among them, the Global Times learned from Longyuan SA. In a video the Longyuan SA sent to the Global Times, Thabiso Moleko, deployment counselor, De Aar's Department of Employment and Labor, said that “Chinese companies bring far more than jobs – they let young people see that 'I, too, can master the world's most advanced technology.' We genuinely hope to build many more such projects with Chinese enterprises, to make De Aar better and South Africa better.” Jenny Ntuka, occupational health and safety inspector at the De Aar's Department of Employment and Labor, told the Global Times that the greatest value of this wind farm is not the turbines themselves, but that the most advanced technology now stays in our community. “The Northern Cape has plenty of solar projects, but wind-power operations and maintenance are far more technically demanding. Our local colleges don't yet offer these courses, so we especially hope more youngsters can learn these 'hard skills' right here at home and secure a real iron rice bowl for the future.” The 2025 G20 Summit concluded in Johannesburg on November 23, once again focusing global attention on the Global South. Some 750 kilometers away in De Aar, the blades of 163 turbines continue turning quietly in the spring breeze – delivering 770 million kWh of clean power each year, lighting up 300,000 South African homes, and illuminating a clear new path for China-Africa cooperation. As countries worldwide race to address climate change and African nations grapple with the shift to green development models, China-Africa clean-energy cooperation now spans decades, with numerous Chinese-invested power stations already operational or nearing completion. In this new era of mutual assistance and shared destiny, the De Aar wind power project stands as a living example. When China's technology, responsibility, and commitment resonate in perfect harmony with Africa's aspirations and natural endowments, the wind sweeping across the wilderness ceases to be merely a force of nature – it becomes tangible momentum propelling both sides forward together toward a brighter future. This energy represents the “China solution” for sustainable development in the Global South, and even more so, the shared mission of China and Africa to build a fairer and more prosperous world. Source: Global Times: Disclaimer: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
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Contact Person: Anna Li
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