Twenty-five African leaders have arrived in Beijing or confirmed attendance at this week\u2019s China-Africa forum
\n beijing
\nChinese President Xi Jinping hosted more than two dozen African leaders at a banquet in Beijing on Wednesday, kicking off the city\u2019s biggest summit in years with promises of cooperation in infrastructure, energy and education.
\nChina, the world\u2019s number two economy, is Africa\u2019s largest trading partner and has sought to tap the continent\u2019s vast troves of natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.
\nIt has also furnished African countries with billions in loans that have helped build much-needed infrastructure but also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.
\nTwenty-five African leaders have arrived in Beijing or confirmed attendance at this week\u2019s China-Africa forum, according to an AFP tally, including some whose countries face a rising risk of debt distress.
\nXi and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed guests as they arrived for a lavish dinner at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday evening, live AFP footage showed.
\nThere was also a \u201cfamily\u201d photo of the gathered leaders and Xi will give a speech at an opening ceremony on Thursday morning.
\nChinese state media has lauded Xi this week as a \u201ctrue friend of Africa\u201d, claiming Beijing\u2019s ties were reaching \u201cnew heights\u201d under his stewardship.
\nThe Chinese leader had held talks with more than a dozen African counterparts in Beijing by Wednesday, a tally of state media reporting showed.
\nXi called during a meeting on Tuesday with President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria \u2013 one of China\u2019s biggest borrowers on the continent \u2013 for great cooperation in the \u201cdevelopment of infrastructure, energy and mineral resources\u201d, state news agency Xinhua said.
\nHe also promised cooperation in \u201cinvestment, trade, infrastructure, mineral resources\u201d and other areas during talks on the same day with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
\nXi backed Zimbabwe in its struggle against \u201cillegal sanctions\u201d imposed by the United States in response to corruption and human rights abuses by the country\u2019s leadership.
\nGeopolitical concerns
\nAnalysts say that Beijing\u2019s largesse towards Africa is being recalibrated in the face of economic trouble at home and that geopolitical concerns over a growing tussle with the United States may increasingly be driving policy.
\n\u201cDeepening economic engagement with Africa across the board\u201d is one of Beijing\u2019s key goals this week, Zainab Usman, director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP.
\n\u201cIn specific areas, even where such an expanded engagement may not make economic sense, it will be driven by geopolitical reasons,\u201d she said.
\nOne goal may be narrowing the growing trade imbalance between China and Africa through increasing imports of agricultural goods and processed minerals, Usman said.
\n\u201cMeeting these African demands is in China\u2019s geopolitical interest to keep them onside in the tussle with the US.\u201d
\nFor their part, African leaders are likely to seek backing for big-ticket items, as they have in the past, but also place greater emphasis on debt sustainability, analysts say.
\nRecent deadly protests in Kenya were triggered by the government\u2019s need \u201cto service its debt burden to international creditors, including China\u201d, said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at London\u2019s Chatham House.
\nVines and other analysts expect African leaders at this week\u2019s forum to seek not only more Chinese investment but also more favourable loans in light of such events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twenty-five African leaders have arrived in Beijing or confirmed attendance at this week\u2019s China-Africa forum beijing Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted more than two dozen African leaders at a banquet in Beijing on Wednesday, kicking off the city\u2019s biggest summit in years with promises of cooperation in infrastructure, energy and education. China, the world\u2019s number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-429186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n