Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to provide Africa with US$50 billion  in financial support over the next three years and strengthen military cooperation in a sweeping effort to deepen China’s relations with a continent seen as key to his geopolitical ambitions.

The Chinese leader laid out his vision for closer ties in a speech to leaders from some 50 African nations on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing. He vowed to upgrade diplomatic relations and offered a range of economic perks to the continent even as China’s slowing growth has limited its ability to lend.

“This is not the kind of pledge that is going to finance large-scale mega infrastructure projects in Africa as the Chinese did,” said Eric Olander, a co-founder of the China-Global South Project, but the amount “does enough to preserve the narrative that China is as committed to Africa as it’s been in the past”.

Beijing’s assistance would comprise a US$30 billion credit line, US$11 billion of the vaguely worded “various assistance” category, and at least US$10 billion of investment by Chinese companies, according to Xi.

Xi said China would also unilaterally exempt import tariffs for products from 33 African countries deemed as least developed economies, as well as expand market access to the world’s second-largest economy. Separately, China said it would grant one billion yuan in military assistance to Africa that will help train 6,000 military personnel and another 1,000 police officers and law enforcement officers.

“China and Africa’s joint pursuit of modernisation will set off a wave of modernisation in the Global South,” Xi told African officials including Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Zambian leader Hakainde Hichilema, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi. 

The remarks came after Xi hosted a gala dinner the night before for the continent’s most powerful politicians, illustrating the red-carpet treatment lavished on African leaders in China. Xi met with at least 26 African leaders in the days before the event, pledging deeper ties in trade, politics and security.

The tariff exemption will apply to all least developed nations with diplomatic relations with China, Xi said, meaning countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia will benefit, while Tuvalu and Haiti won’t be eligible because they recognise Taipei over Beijing. China had previously given zero-tariff access to at least six low-income African countries and promised to expand such treatment. 

Xi also promised to ramp up governmental interactions, including by inviting 1,000 members of African political parties to China to “deepen exchanges of experience in party and state governance”.

The three-day conclave highlights Beijing’s ongoing strategy of positioning itself as the leader of the Global South, as Xi tries to challenge the US-led world order. The Chinese president has travelled to the African continent five times since taking power. Neither Joe Biden nor his predecessor Donald Trump - who disparaged African nations while in office - visited during their terms.

Over the past decade, China’s lending fuelled an infrastructure boom across Africa as part of Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative, but that slowed to a trickle during the pandemic before picking up again last year. While the forum provides a platform for African countries to push for debt forgiveness, Beijing has shown little willingness to cancel outstanding payments, preferring to offer refinancing options.

Nations such as Zambia, Ethiopia and Ghana all called on China for debt relief after the pandemic battered their economies. The Asian nation’s ongoing property crisis is likely to further constrain Beijing, and Xi made no mention of loan repayment in his speech.

Rising trade barriers in Western countries over claims the world’s No 2 economy is exporting its overcapacity has also pressed the need for China to find friendly partners to provide fresh markets for its shipments. But already some African leaders have sounded the alarm over imbalances.

“As South Africa, we would like to narrow the trade deficit and address the structure of our trade,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told Xi on Monday. “We urge for more sustainable manufacturing and job-creating investments.” 

China’s trade surplus with Africa rose to a record US$64 billion last year, with exports surging to a new high of US$173 billion, while imports moderated from 2022.

“If African countries are just exporting raw materials and importing more manufactured goods from China, the economic relationship remains no different from that with their former colonial powers,” said Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the US government-funded Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington. “There needs to be a difference.”

China has also positioned itself as a partner in African countries’ transition to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. The continent that struggles with reliable power was the fastest growing region for Chinese exports of solar panels last year. 

In his speech, Xi said China would help Africa build “green growth engines” and to push for the global transition to green development. 

Beijing’s diplomatic engagement gives it an upper hand in growing influence on a continent forecast to make up more than a quarter of the global population by 2050. The Asian nation had 60 diplomatic posts in Africa last year, four more than the US, according to the Sydney-based Lowy Institute’s Global Diplomacy Index. 

African nations have also been using their diplomatic muscle to vote in support of Beijing’s positions on issues like Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong in the United Nations. 

  - Bloomberg