BEIJING (AP) — Dozens of Africa The leaders gathered in Beijing on Thursday for a summit that is a sign of China’s influence on the continent as it hopes it will be a key ally in countering the U.S.-led world order.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged billions of dollars in loans and private investment over the next three years and proposed strengthening ties with all African countries with which it has diplomatic ties. China It will be elevated to the “strategic” level.
“We will stand side by side and firmly safeguard our legitimate rights and interests,” he said at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
China has been a major player in Africa since the forum was founded in 2000. Chinese companies are investing heavily in extracting resources needed by Chinese industries, and development banks have provided loans to build railways, roads and other infrastructure under the government of Xi Jinping. Belt and Road Initiative.
African leaders welcome Chinese aid but want it to be more closely aligned with the continent’s development goals, as they seek to industrialize their economies, boost agricultural exports and reduce their trade deficit with China, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest trading partner. Largest bilateral trading partner.
“In the context of our industrialization efforts, the portfolio of private investments in Africa must be sufficiently diversified beyond the traditional sectors of mining and energy resources,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, said at the forum, speaking in French.
Reflecting expanding ties between China and Africa, Xi outlined 10 “partnership actions” including training for African politicians and future leaders, further opening up of the Chinese market, agricultural demonstration areas, vocational and technical training, green energy projects and a military aid grant of 1 billion yuan ($140 million).
Xi said China would expand existing exemptions and eliminate tariffs on products from most of the world’s poorest countries, including 33 in Africa.
“I commend the overall progress made to date and am also grateful for the announcement of further areas of partnership activity,” he said. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu HassanSpeaking on behalf of East Africa, he said, “We welcome the new characterization of China-Africa relations.”
China trains more military experts in Africa than any other country, and its extensive leadership and governance training gives it more influence by building connections with successive generations of politicians, said Paul Nantulia, an expert on China relations at the African Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.
The relationship between the two countries has gone beyond trade and investment and has taken on political significance.
“Modernization is the inalienable right of every country,” Xi said, “but the Western approach to modernization has caused great suffering to developing countries. Since the end of World War II, Third World countries, represented by China and African countries, have achieved independence and sought to rectify historical injustices incurred in the process of modernization.”
China has sought to position itself as a leader Global South“China is a global leader,” is a catchphrase in the developing world. While no one necessarily sees China as a leader, its message of rewriting the international order is resonating with African countries that feel frustrated and abandoned by their traditional Western partners.
Many African countries have openly criticized the US role in the Ukrainian war, refused to condemn Russian aggression, and adopted a non-aligned stance. Political friction with the United States
“South Africa will continue to pursue progressive internationalism, as history demands,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a meeting with Xi earlier this week. “On a foundation of solidarity, we will continue to offer our support to advance our interests, the interests of the African continent and the global south.”
Chinese development lending to Africa is down significantly from its 2016 peak but recovered from its pre-COVID lows to $4.6 billion last year, according to the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University.
The decline came in part in response to government budget crises in several recipient countries that were unable to repay loans from multiple lending institutions.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the forum that many highly indebted African countries are unable to meet the basic needs of their people.
“This situation is unsustainable and invites social unrest,” he said, stressing the need for overhaul of an “outdated, inefficient and unfair international financial system.”
Kenya is seeking funding to complete it. Partially constructed railway project The plan would link the port city of Mombasa with neighboring Uganda, but it is unclear whether China would agree.
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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Evelyn Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and video producers Olivia Chang and Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed.