Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China will provide 360 billion yuan, which is over $50 billion in financial support to Africa over the next three years.
Xi spoke on the second day of the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, which is expected to deliver new policies and cooperation agreements that will set the stage for China-Africa relations in the next three years.
The high-profile summit came as China seeks to recalibrate its economic ties and trade agreements with Africa as well as strengthening relations with developing economies amid geopolitical tension with the West.
Leaders from over 50 African nations gathered in Beijing this week, many of whom — including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s President William Ruto have spoken with Xi in one-on-one meetings in the lead up to the summit, according to Chinese state media.
The visiting delegates will also be working to negotiate with Beijing on loan terms in a bid to resolve growing debt burdens at home.
The summit also came as the country tries to sell more green tech products to the region like electric vehicles and solar panels — items that face hefty export tariffs in the West.
It is the largest diplomatic event that China has hosted in recent years, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong said in the summit’s media briefing on Aug. 23.
But it might be a challenging task for Xi, after China did not meet a pledge to buy $300 billion of African goods from the last Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in 2021.
China has been Africa’s largest trading partner since it overtook the U.S. in 2009.
The total trade volume has grown significantly over the past two decades, from less than 100 billion yuan in 2000 to 1.98 trillion yuan in 2023, for an annual growth rate of 17.2%, according to data from China Customs.
In the first seven months of this year, China-Africa traded goods accelerated to reach a record 1.19 trillion yuan.
China is also the largest creditor to many African nations.
