On Thursday he hailed his country’s relations with the African continent, saying they were at their “best period in history”.
He made the comments at the opening ceremony of the biggest summit hosted by Beijing in years.
Xi pledged more than $50 billion (€45.12 billion) in financing for Africa over the next three years and pledged to help create a million jobs on the African continent.
The FOCAC Summit is held every three years. This year, more than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are attending, according to state media.
The summit comes as Africa, slowly emerging from a series of defaults, seeks to define its future cooperation with its biggest lender that now faces economic concerns of its own.
African leaders have already signed a slew of agreements with their Chinese counterparts in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.
Addressing leaders at the forum’s opening ceremony in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi said, “China is ready to increase cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment.”
Why are forums important?
China – the world’s second largest economy after the US – is Africa’s largest trading partner.
The continent has vast deposits of natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals that could insulate China’s slowing economy from geopolitical upheaval.
Meanwhile, there is money in Africa that has helped build infrastructure but also created controversy for saddling governments with huge burdens.
“Deepening economic engagement with Africa across the board” is a key goal for Beijing this week, according to Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“In specific areas, where such extended engagement may not make economic sense, it will be driven by geopolitical reasons,” she said.
Usman said another possible goal is to reduce the growing trade imbalance between China and Africa by increasing imports of agricultural goods and processed minerals.
“It is in China’s geopolitical interest to satisfy these African demands so that they
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday that competition for critical minerals is creating challenges that are “felt more significantly by African nations.”
Guterres warns of ‘unsustainable’ debt
UN Secretary-General Guterres warned leaders at the summit that debt relief and inadequate access to scarce resources is a “recipe.” He called Africa’s debt situation “unsustainable.”
“They have no access to effective debt relief, scarce resources and clearly insufficient relief funds to respond to the basic needs of their populations,” he said.
He proposed new reforms in the international financial architecture.
African nations are trying to restructure their debt through a system designed by the G20 known as the Common Framework. However, the plan has not sparked talks with lenders ranging from Chinese state-owned banks to asset managers at banks based in London and New York.
On the other hand, Guterres said that expanding relations between China and the African continent “could lead to a renewable energy revolution.”
‘Africa’s True Friend’
Bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the FOCAC summit saw several pledges of cooperation on projects ranging from railways to solar panels to avocados.
Meanwhile, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed guests to a lavish dinner at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday evening, live AFP footage shows.
In the lead-up to the summit, Chinese state media hailed Xi as a “true friend of Africa” and claimed Beijing’s ties with the continent were reaching “new heights” under his leadership.
The Chinese president held talks with more than a dozen African counterparts in Beijing by Wednesday, according to local media.
mk/nm (AFP, Reuters)
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