Xi Jinping welcomes 20 leaders for major China-Africa summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping received in Beijing on Wednesday evening with great pomp some twenty African leaders for the opening banquet of a major China-Africa summit, against a backdrop of promises of cooperation in infrastructure, energy and education.

The world's second-largest economy, China is the African continent's leading trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $167.8 billion (€151.8 billion) in the first half of 2024, according to Chinese state media.

It has sent hundreds of thousands of workers and engineers to Africa over the past two decades to build these major projects, and gained privileged access to Africa's vast natural resources, including copper, gold and lithium.

In total, 25 leaders of African countries are in the Chinese capital or have confirmed their presence at the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, according to an AFP count.

The summit is the largest diplomatic meeting held in Beijing since the Covid-19 pandemic. It is due to end on Friday.

It formally kicked off on Wednesday when Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed their guests for a handshake, a group photo and a lavish dinner under the gilded Great Hall of the People – a colossal building located on the edge of the famous Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese president will deliver a speech on Thursday morning at the summit's opening ceremony.

Xi Jinping is “a true friend of Africa”, assured the Chinese official press this week, insisting on the ties between Beijing and the continent which have reached “new heights” since he came to power.

– Chinese loans –

Loans from Chinese public banks have thus made it possible to finance numerous infrastructures intended to boost African growth (railways, ports, roads, etc.). They have also raised questions because they have contributed to increasing the indebtedness of certain countries.

The Chinese president has already had one-on-one talks in recent days with a dozen African leaders who have arrived in Beijing, according to a count by Chinese media.

During his meeting on Tuesday with Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria – one of the African countries that has borrowed the most from China – Xi Jinping called for greater cooperation in the “development of infrastructure, energy and natural resources”, reported the state agency Xinhua.

Chinese schoolchildren greet guests at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing © POOL – WU HAO

And when he received his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa on the same day, he promised collaboration in “investment, trade, infrastructure, natural resources” and other areas.

He also gave him his support in the face of “illegal sanctions” imposed by the United States, which accuses the Zimbabwean government of corruption and human rights violations.

But the amount of loans granted by China to African countries last year – $4.61 billion (€4.2 billion) – is a sharp decline compared to the peaks reached in 2016, when they amounted to nearly $30 billion (€27 billion).

According to analysts, the current economic slowdown in China is pushing Beijing to reduce its investments in Africa.

– “Geopolitical interest” –

This week's summit also comes against a backdrop of growing competition between the United States and China in Africa, in terms of political influence and access to natural resources.

“Deepening economic engagement with Africa across the board” remains one of China's goals at the forum, Zainab Usman, director of the Africa program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP.

“In specific areas, even if increased engagement doesn't make economic sense, it will be driven by geopolitical reasons,” she said.

Members of the Chinese honor guard welcome guests at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing © POOL – WU HAO

One goal could also be to reduce the growing trade imbalance between China and Africa, including by increasing the Asian giant's imports of African agricultural products and processed minerals, Usman said.

“Meeting these African demands is in China's geopolitical interest, in order to keep (African countries) on its side in the standoff with the United States,” she said.

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