China’s President Xi Jinping has pledged US$50 billion in financial support to African nations China has formal ties with, in addition to food and military aid, CNN reports.
Xi made his announcement on Thursday, the second day of the three-day Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing.
China’s relationship with the continent was at its “best in history”, he said – urging their respective populations to work together as a “powerful force” and write a “new chapter in peace, prosperity and progress.”
Separately to the US$50 billion – which will be provided as a mix of credit funds, assistance and private investment from Chinese firms – Xi pledged US$280 million to be split evenly between food assistance and military aid.
[See more: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa meets Xi, woos GBA investors]
He also outlined 10 cooperation areas for the coming three years. These included infrastructure connectivity, trade, security and green development.
CNN noted that while the amount offered at the 2024 summit was lower than the $60 billion pledged in 2015 and 2018 respectively, it appeared to be aimed at sending a strong signal to visiting leaders about China’s commitment to the continent.
Yun Sun, the director of the Stimson Center’s China program in Washington, US, told CNN that China was “coming to the realisation that it has to rely on the Global South as the foundation for its diplomacy [due to] the intensification of this great power competition with the United States.”
She added that Africa, as “such a big block in the Global South,” was becoming more important to China than ever.
