Beijing, China
On Monday, China is hosting leaders from across Africa for a grand five-day summit aimed at deepening ties with the continent, where Beijing’s massive loans have helped build infrastructure. Dozens of leaders and delegations are expected to attend the summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which is scheduled to run through Friday and will be the largest diplomatic event in the Chinese capital since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Asian giant.
China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers to Africa over the past two decades to build these major projects, gaining privileged access to Africa’s vast natural resources, including copper, gold, and lithium.
Loans from Chinese public banks have made it possible to finance numerous infrastructures intended to boost African growth (railways, ports, roads, etc.) but have also raised questions because they have increased certain countries’ indebtedness.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade reached $167.8 billion (€151.8 billion) in the first half of 2024, according to Chinese state media.
Security has been stepped up in Beijing ahead of the summit, with roads temporarily blocked to allow delegations to pass through.
Banners were hung across the city proclaiming that China and the African continent “unite for a better future.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Beijing early Monday morning for a four-day visit to China, during which he will also visit the major metropolis of Shenzhen (south), the technological capital of the Asian giant.
– Natural resources –
Trade between China and South Africa, a major economic power on the continent, reached $38.8 billion (€35.1 billion) in 2023, according to the South African presidency.
According to his office, Cyril Ramaphosa is due to attend a welcoming ceremony on Monday hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the monumental building on the edge of the famous Tiananmen Square where foreign leaders are welcomed.
The two countries will sign agreements on “strengthening economic cooperation and implementing technical cooperation,” according to the same source.
Xi Jinping also met on Monday with Félix Tshisekedi, his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the official Xinhua news agency reported.
China has a strong presence in the DRC, where it wants to exploit natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium, and rare earths.
Cooperation is sometimes hampered by insecurity. In July, at least four Chinese were killed in an attack in Ituri, a gold-rich province in the northeast of the central African country, AFP learned from local Congolese sources.
Leaders from Djibouti (where China’s only overseas military base is located), as well as those from Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, and other countries, also arrived in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.
– Loans down –
China’s loans to African countries last year hit a five-year high, according to a database compiled by Boston University. The top borrowers were Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya. But the amount of the loans – $4.61 billion (€4.2 billion) – is down sharply from the peaks reached in 2016, when they amounted to nearly $30 billion (€27 billion).
According to analysts, the current economic slowdown in China is pushing Beijing to reduce its investments in Africa.
This week’s summit comes amid growing competition between the United States and China in Africa for political influence and access to natural resources.
Accustomed to presenting the Asian giant as its main rival, Washington regularly warns against what it presents as Beijing’s harmful influence on the continent.
In 2022, the White House estimated that China was seeking to “promote its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests (and) to undermine transparency and openness.”
With AFP
