China ready to deepen infrastructure and trade ties with Africa

Chinese leader Xi Jinping told African leaders on Thursday that he would deepen cooperation on infrastructure and trade with the continent, speaking at Beijing’s biggest summit in years.

More than 50 African leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend this week’s China-Africa forum, state media said.

African leaders have already secured a series of commitments this week for deeper cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.

Addressing leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony held at Beijing’s palatial Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Xi praised ties with the continent as those of the “best period in history.”

“China stands ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in the fields of industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment,” he said.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner and has sought to exploit the continent’s vast reserves of natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.

It has also provided African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure, but has at times sparked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.

Analysts say Beijing’s generosity toward Africa is being recalibrated in light of domestic economic difficulties and that geopolitical concerns over growing tensions with the United States could increasingly shape foreign policy.

But bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the summit produced a series of promises for greater cooperation on projects ranging from railways to solar panels to avocados.

After meetings on Wednesday, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said he had overseen a deal between state-owned power company ZESCO and Beijing’s PowerChina to expand the use of rooftop solar panels in his country.

Nigeria, one of Beijing’s biggest debtors on the continent, and China have signed a joint statement agreeing to “deepen cooperation” on infrastructure, including “transport, ports and free trade zones.”

In turn, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has secured a commitment from Xi to push forward with the construction of a long-stalled railway linking her country to neighboring Zambia.

The project, for which Beijing has pledged $1 billion, according to Zambian media, aims to expand transport links in the resource-rich eastern part of the continent.

According to a joint statement by the two countries, Zimbabwe also secured a promise from Beijing of deeper cooperation in “agriculture, mining, traditional and new environmentally friendly energy and transport infrastructure”.

According to the joint statement, the southern African nation and Beijing also agreed to sign an agreement that would allow the export of fresh Zimbabwean avocados to China.

Kenyan leader William Ruto said Xi had promised to open Chinese markets to his country’s agricultural products.

The two sides agreed to cooperate on the expansion of the country’s standard gauge railway, built with financing from the Exim Bank of China, which links the capital Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa.

Ruto also secured a commitment to greater cooperation with China on the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba highway, which Kenyan media reported is expected to cost $1.2 billion.

Last year, Ruto asked China for a $1 billion loan and to restructure existing debt to complete other stalled construction projects. The country now owes China more than $8 billion.

AFP