Beijing, Sep 5 (EFE). Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged 360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion) to fund Africa’s development over the next three years.
Xi was speaking in Beijing at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), a meeting with which the Asian giant seeks to further strengthen its presence on that continent.
The Asian country will also boost investments in the continent worth at least 70 billion yuan ($9.8 billion).
“China and Africa stand shoulder-to-shoulder and defend their legitimate rights as the world witnesses unseen changes. Africa-China relations are at their best in history,” Xi said.
The president also announced the implementation of 30 infrastructure projects and renewed his promise to increase agricultural imports from the continent, an intention he had already expressed at the last FOCAC, held in Dakar in 2021.
Xi also stressed that China will help Africa “promote eco-friendly modernization, green development and the low-carbon transition.”
He also said that China will offer 1 billion yuan ($141 million) in non-reimbursable military aid, as well as training for 6,000 military personnel.
Cooperation will be deepened in fields such as trade and infrastructure, but also in areas such as personnel training and poverty alleviation, the president said.
“The China-Africa friendship remains robust and is growing stronger through generations no matter how the world changes,” said Xi, who has visited African countries 10 times.
“Together we have built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks, and special economic zones. These projects have changed the lives and destiny of many people,” he said.
At least 50 African heads of state and government are attending the forum, a mechanism for dialogue between China and Africa that began in Beijing in 2000.
Since 2000, the FOCAC has become a priority event that welcomes high-level delegations from all African countries, except for Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), which maintains ties with Taiwan instead.
China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for the past 15 years, with trade volume reaching a record $282.1 billion in 2023.
However, some have also criticized the Asian giant’s strategy on the continent as implementing so-called “debt traps” to make countries beholden to Beijing.
Africa’s trade deficit with China widened last year to $64 billion, although the gap narrowed in the first half of 2024 thanks to the growth of its imports from Africa. EFE
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