China welcomes leaders from all over the world starting yesterday Africa at a five-day summit to strengthen their relations with the continent, where Beijing’s funding enabled the construction of countless infrastructures.
Dozens of leaders and delegations will participate in the so-called F until FridayGold of China-Africa Cooperation.
Over the past two decades, China sent hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers to Africa to build major infrastructure projects and gained privileged access to the continent’s natural resources, including copper, gold and lithium.
Loans from Chinese state banks financed railways, ports or roads but they also raise questions because increase the indebtedness of certain countries.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is Africa’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade reached $167.8 billion in the first half of 2024, according to Chinese media.
One of the guests, the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosaarrived in Beijing for a four-day visit to China, during which he will also visit the city of Shenzhen, the technological capital of the Asian giant.
Ramaphosa met with Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and the signing of agreements between both countries is planned.
China’s lending to African countries in 2023 reached a five-year high, according to a database from Boston University. The top borrowing countries were Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya.
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2024-09-06 04:36:04