—The General Preface to the Library of the China-Africa InstituteWe are witnessing major changes unfolding in the world,changes unprecedented in a century.With the in-depth development of world multipolarization,economic globalization,social informatization and cultural diversity,peace,development,cooperation and mutual benefit have become the common aspirations of human society; and it is the common wish of people from all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind.At the s...

　Bilateral trade between China and Africa has developed rapidly in recent years.Since 2009， China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years.ln his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of 2018 Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)， President Xi Jinping made it clear that the building of the Belt and Road Initiative should align with the development strategies of African countries and build a closer China-Africa community with a shared future. To this end， he proposed that China should work closely with African countries in the next 3 years and beyond to implement the "Eight Major Initiatives". These cover the following 8 areas： industry promotion， infrastructure connectivity， trade facilitation， green develop-ment， capacity building， health， people-to-people exchanges and peace and security. The implementation of the "Eight Major Initiatives" will bring a rare historic opportunity for the development of China-Africa economic and trade relations. With the development of investment and trade between China and Africa and the further strengthening of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa， there are bound to be a large number of economic， trade and investment disputes，civil and commercial disputes and various criminal cases between China and Africa . It is proposed in the Initiatives adopted at previous FOCAC that China and Africa should negotiate and sign more bilateral treaties on investment and judicial assistance in the field of legislation， justice and law enforcement.But， with the rapid development of China-Africa economy， trade， investment and cultural exchanges， the current legal construction is still lagging behind and can't provide effective legal guarantee for bilateral exchanges and cooperation.