Beijing
\nChinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to create \u201cat least\u201d one million jobs in Africa as he seeks to position Beijing as the development partner of choice for the Global South.
\nSpeaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Thursday, Xi said China would provide African countries 360 billion yuan ($51bn) in new financing and support 30 infrastructure projects to boost connectivity across the continent.
\nAddressing delegates from more than 50 African nations gathered in Beijing for the forum, he said 210 billion yuan ($29.6bn) of the financing would be disbursed through credit lines and at least 70 billion yuan ($9.9bn) in new investment by Chinese companies, with smaller amounts provided through military aid and other projects.
\nThe financial assistance would be in yuan, in an apparent bid to further internationalise the Chinese currency.
\nThe Chinese leader also called for a China-Africa network of land and sea links and coordinated development.
\n\u201cWe have together built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks and special economic zones. These projects have changed the lives and destiny of many people,\u201d Xi told African leaders, according to state news agency Xinhua.
\nXi said that the Chinese and African people working together could \u201caccomplish new and even greater feats\u201d and spearhead the \u201cmodernisation\u201d of the Global South.
\nAfter the opening ceremony, delegates adopted the Beijing Declaration on building \u201ca shared future in the new era\u201d as well as the Beijing Action Plan for 2025-27, according to Xinhua.
\nChina is seeking to expand its influence in Africa amid a growing economic and diplomatic divergence with Western countries, including the United States.
\nBeijing\u2019s outreach also comes as the world\u2019s second-largest economy is slowing down amid challenges that include a prolonged property crisis and a declining population.
\nChina is Africa\u2019s biggest trade partner, with nearly one-quarter of the continent\u2019s exports \u2013 mainly minerals, fuels and metals \u2013 going to the Asian superpower.
\nBeijing is also the continent\u2019s biggest lender, pledging $191bn to African countries between 2006 and 2021.
\nAt the 2021 China-Africa summit in Dakar, China promised at least $10bn in investment and the same again in credit lines.
\nIn the run-up to the three-day summit, African leaders announced numerous deals related to cooperation on infrastructure, agriculture, mining and energy.
\nAmong other agreements, Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto announced plans to cooperate on the expansion of the railway between capital Nairobi and Mombasa and a highway in the west of the East African country.<\/p>\n
\u2018Historic injustices\u2019
\nXi did not mention debt in his speech, despite China being many African states\u2019 biggest bilateral lender but the Action Plan included terms for repayment postponements and called for the establishment of an African rating agency.
\nIn attendance at the summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that African countries\u2019 inadequate access to debt relief and scarce resources was a recipe for social unrest.
\nIt was time, he said, to correct \u201chistoric injustices\u201d against the continent, stating that it was \u201coutrageous\u201d that the continent had no permanent seat on the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to create \u201cat least\u201d one million jobs in Africa as he seeks to position Beijing as the development partner of choice for the Global South. Speaking at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Thursday, Xi said China would provide African countries 360 billion yuan ($51bn) in new financing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-429464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n