Dozens of African leaders yesterday gathered in Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which signals China’s influence on a continent that it hopes would be a key ally in resisting a US-led global order.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) promised African leaders billions of dollars in loans and private investment over the next three years, and proposed that relations with all African countries that have formal diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the “strategic” level.
“We have always understood and supported each other, setting an example for a new type of international relations,” Xi said at the forum’s opening ceremony.
Photo: Reuters
China has become a major player in Africa since the forum was founded in 2000. Its companies have invested heavily in mining and its development banks have made loans to build railways, roads and other infrastructure under Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative.
African leaders have welcomed China’s assistance, but are pushing for a closer alignment of aid with the continent’s development goals. They are seeking to industrialize their economies and expand agricultural exports to reduce a trade deficit with China, which has become sub-Saharan Africa’s largest bilateral trading partner.
In a reflection of China’s broadening relationship with Africa, Xi outlined 10 “partnership actions” that included training for African politicians and future leaders, a further opening of the Chinese market, agriculture demonstration areas, vocational and technical training, green energy projects and 1 billion yuan (US$140 million) in grants for military assistance.
“While commending the overall progress so far achieved, we also appreciate the announcement of further areas of partnership actions,” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on behalf of eastern Africa. “We salute a new characterization of China-Africa relations.”
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