The Chinese and African civilizations had been front-runners for a long time in the evolution of human civilizations. Both formed their own knowledge systems and thought-forms, hence profoundly influenced the path and direction of human civilizations in many fields. In modern times, the western countries have led the modernization process of mankind for almost two centuries as a leading industrial society. The prior development of the West pioneered a certain stage, but by no means encompassed all in modern growth of mankind. If we broaden our vision to look further back in history to reevaluate earlier human civilizations, the diversified background and driving forces for the origination of human modernity, we would find that the Chinese and African people participated in shaping human modernity long ago. China-Africa cooperation is going to unleash unprecedented creativity of civilizations  and shape new nature and broader prospect for human civilization. It is necessary to understand the significance of China-Africa development cooperation, which has registered rapid development ever since the turn of the century, in such a broad historical view.  

The development of human modernity has entered a new period because of the renaissance of Asian&African civilization.

 

First, the prior development of the West has left long-lasting and complex influence on the contemporary world. The basic elements of human modernity were born by joint creation and accumulation of all previous civilizations, but because of various reasons, the initial breakthrough of the transformation from traditional agricultural civilization to modern industrial civilization happened in west Europe alone. Therefore, the west dominated the development process of modern world to a large extent for the last few centuries.  Doubtlessly the creativity unleashed by the west made important contribution to the modern civilization. However, the modern development pattern centered around the West dragged China and the whole Asia, Africa and Latin America into a painful process, in which under the shock of the expansionary capitalist and imperialist western industrial forces, their civilizations disintegrated, their societies fell apart and their national development was marginalized. Hence the modern development of mankind and the world at large was twisted and thrown into turmoil and conflicts.

 

Second, western modern development is just one stage rather than the whole human modernity development. Modernization brought in a major turn in global history, and the West played a critical role in such a process. But the world contemporary history is not an existence entirely centering around  the West, as some western scholars pointed out in their “world system” theory, nor will it become a historical process in which the West solely transforms all human civilizations. In the long run, the modernization drive (including industrialization, urbanization, scientific and technological advancement, and global links) which began in the west is just one part and one stage instead of the entirety of man’s modern growth as a more complicated and longer history.  As a matter of fact, when the west kept its edge over peoples and nations in other regions, the latter never stopped seeking independence and self-improvement, and were tenaciously exploring modern development path suited to their own situation while trying to defend their own history and culture under pressure for transformation imposed by their modernity, and also played a role in shaping global modern civilizations.

 

Third, the rejuvenation of Asian and African world is accelerating and has initiated a new chapter in the development of human modernity. Various nations and countries in Asia and Africa have made important progress in their modern renewal and development after a century of  arduous struggles and begin to own more experience and self-esteem in their exploration of modern development path, thus enriching the essential content of human modernity and expanding the connotation and denotation of human modern development. In the long run, as non-western countries and nations rejuvenate and rise politically, economically, even culturally and conceptually, a new world system featuring equal exchanges, cooperation and development among all nations, cultures, civilizations and countries will gradually emerge. Over the past 6 decades, especially during the 15 years since the establishment of FOCAC, China-Africa development cooperation, with its rapid advancement and increasingly extensive and profound influence, is actually witnessing, practicing, promoting and benefiting from the changes of the times and the new world system.

 

Fourth, the force driving transformation in the world increasingly derives from the South which covers bigger population, vaster territory and more diversified culture. Today, cooperation between China and Africa, China and Arab states, China and Latin America and in a more extensive scope such as among BRICS and between South-South takes both the west and the non-west, the north and the south, the developed and the developing countries through unprecedented new and important adjustment and arrangement. Generally speaking, these are positive adjustments and changes facing future  structure of world system. After centuries of Western dominated world system, the overall pattern of exchanges between world civilizations and the basic form of international relations are to some extent turning to the direction of  exchanges on an equal footing and self-governed dialogue. Hundreds of years of experience and discourse about modernity with Europe  or Western countries as the center is just a special stage in the modern development of mankind after all. The history and modernity of mankind will not end with the rise or termination of western civilization. It will move forward, expand, and elevate with the rejuvenation and rise of the Asian and African world.

The practical rationality of China-Africa development cooperation promotes rationalization of South-North relations.

 

First, the relatively successful experience of non-western countries and its special value has not been widely understood and acknowledged, especially not recognized or respected by the west. Compared with the west which has accumulated centuries of modern experience, the successful development of non-western countries only started decades ago and most countries are still in an early stage of modern development and facing all kinds of challenges. The west has been enjoying a sense of superiority and exclusiveness for almost two centuries and such a sense is still evident in today’s ideological field. By building institutions in ideological, academic and social science system over the last two centuries, the west has established its own modern discourse system, in which not only exist ideas and theories about universal values, but also blended with too many unique cultural concepts and values. Some of them are knowledge drawn from local experience of western countries, but assuming the cloak of universality because of the political and economic might of the west in the past years, becomes knowledge that is supposed to be valid everywhere and spread across the world. For a long time, the west is reluctant to admit that the non-western world has the civilization elements and institutional capacity to innovate modernization process, nor is willing to jointly govern the world with the latter.  

 

Second, today the west-dominated traditional theoretical tools and outdated knowledge system have actually fallen behind the transformation of the times and the diversified modern development practice of the non-western countries. The previous limited knowledge and theories can not provide complete theoretical interpretation for the process and significance of new transformation process of mankind. This is a key reason why the ideas of mankind must be renewed and transformed before they can cope with challenges of knowledge innovation, as well as the root cause for the ideological clash between the west and non-west, and conflicts of ideas when China and the west meet in Africa.  By the end of Cold War in late 1980s when the west reached its heyday, the western knowledge and ideology had yet to finish the interpretation of human modernity as absence of successful experience of Non-western countries made comparison, supplement or revision impossible, and because of blind subjective preference and obstinate ideological domination as a result of the powerful position that the west assumed in the past one or two century. The western knowledge and ideological system which has taken shape till now has not and indeed can not provide an ideological framework or knowledge instrument to address modernization of all countries and nations around the world. Traditional western local knowledge or European-American local knowledge is naturally insufficient to explain and cope with new, post-western-era modern growth process of mankind, including selection of new development path, accumulation of new development experience and challenges of new development problems. Such a growth process has already started and is going to gain greater momentum in the future.

 

Third, just like China needed to understand the west and the world once again when it launched reform and opening-up three decades ago, the west is now facing the question of how to re-understand China and the world. Only when the west shakes off its outdated ideas, overcomes knowledge inadequacy and rigid mind, can it correctly understand China’s development and its new type of cooperative relations with African countries. Perhaps it is fair to conclude that whether China or the west, whether developing or developed countries, states and nations in every corner of the world are equally facing a new question today to renew their knowledge, expand their mind and transform their concepts. This is both challenge and opportunity to the world.

 

China-Africa development cooperation is promoting reconstruction of the modernity of the “Asian&African knowledge and wisdom”.

 

First, in an age characterized by diversified development process and model, mankind is far less able to cope with complicated challenges today and ascend to new historical height if they continue to use limited knowledge and experience of the west as their instrument to interpret the world and rely on western wisdom as the only standard of modernity. In such sense, the western knowledge system and experience which have dominated the world for a long time must have a large part of its content sorted out and revised, with the useful constituents remaining and the useless discarded so as to meet the needs of human today and in the long run. The basic conceptual structure of the modern civilization should include rich wisdom accumulated in the ancient history of the Asian & African world and systematic summary of their modern development experience. More diversified wisdom such as “Chinese knowledge”, “African knowledge”, “Indian knowledge” and “Arab knowledge”should be integrated to form a “new global combination” of new human knowledge, ideas, experience and emotions. Only by doing so, mankind can perhaps be able to truly cope with huge challenges of existence and development they are facing at present and in the future.

 

Second, the long evolution of traditional Asian and African societies contains some core elements which remain cornerstones of modern human civilizations until today. These core elements have longer-lasting functions and significance. Today when we mention once again concepts like “Asian & African knowledge” or “Chinese knowledge”and their modern significance, we are building our proposition on the basis of our basic understanding and re-interpretation of historical structure of  human civilizations. On the part of China, many basic elements of modernity, such as accumulation of knowledge, special role of ideology and the formation of national institutions, have taken shape one or two thousand years ago and continue to exist until now. This is why  today’s China-Africa cooperation is poised to have broad prospect and worldwide significance if we understand it from an even broader scope of time and space.  In such a historical perspective, the significance of international exchanges and development cooperation between developing countries, including China-Africa cooperation includes not only boosting collective development of developing countries and promoting reinvigoration of their civilizations, but also exceptional mission of the times, that is to understand and interpret the origination and evolution of modernity once again, participate in constructing and shaping of global modern discourse system beyond the constraint of its western discourse. In addition to the value system consisting of rationality, democracy, freedom and human rights, traditional and contemporary knowledge and practical wisdom of Asian and African people should be included to expand the connotation and denotation of modernity and enrich structure and foundation of modern civilizations. Only in this way, mankind can better cope with all kinds of problems and challenges caused by modernity, promote healthy and global development of modern civilizations, and correspondingly the special value and significance of China-Africa development cooperation can gain more recognition and respect from people all over the world.

 

(The author is a  professor specially invited by the ChangJiang Scholars Program of Ministry of Education of China, and Head of Institute of  African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University.)