This year's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit comes at a critical time for governments in both regions. While China is embroiled in an increasingly contentious great power duel with the United States, African governments are under mounting economic and social pressures.

These challenges are prompting Chinese and African scholars to wonder aloud whether it's time to introduce new reforms into the FOCAC process, particularly more transparency and accountability.

Last month, University of California at Irvince scholar Paa-Kwesi Heto and Paul Nantulya, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., convened an independent working group of some of the world's foremost Africa-China scholars to discuss this week's FOCAC summit.

Normally, these gatherings are conducted off the record, but this time, the participants agreed to allow CGSP to record the discussion and share some of the highlights for the podcast. In this special bonus edition, you'll hear insights from:

• Li Hangwei, Senior Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability
• Pamela Carslake, Executive Director, Sin-Africa Centre of International Relations
• Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Dialogue
• Cliff Mboya, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Johannesburg Centre for Africa-China Studies
• Frangton Chiyemura, Lecturer in International Development Education, The Open University

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @christiangeraud Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

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