Around 50 heads of state and government from the continent have travelled to the People’s Republic, where head of state and party leader Xi Jinping is expected to offer further cooperation and new loans.
The world’s second-largest economy has been pursuing its own interests for many years – economically and geopolitically. African states benefit. But the meeting in Beijing is not just a celebration – African states have long felt the effects of large infrastructure projects financed on credit.
China’s tactics
Beijing sees itself as Africa’s most important trading partner for 15 years – and has secured access to Africa’s raw materials and markets. In return, African states benefit from the expansion of infrastructure, loans with low conditions and investments in sectors such as energy, which contribute to economic growth and modernization, says Claus Soong from the Berlin-based China think tank Merics.
South African political scientist Theo Neethling also believes that the $40 billion (almost €36.2 billion) for infrastructure projects, agriculture and manufacturing that China committed to at the 2021 summit in Senegal has brought tangible benefits to African countries. Kenya, for example, has become the largest flower exporter to China, with annual exports worth $800 million. And China’s promotion of e-commerce has helped Ethiopia export coffee there.
Dark sides of cooperation
But behind the facade, things are simmering, and the disadvantages of ties with the People’s Republic are becoming apparent for many countries. Between 2000 and 2022 alone, China lent more than 170 billion dollars to 49 African countries and regional institutions, according to political scientist Neethling. “Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia are particularly deep in the debt trap – and are now aware that Beijing will not write them off so easily.”
African countries can only benefit to a limited extent from infrastructure projects that are implemented with workers and materials from China. And cheap products from China have a negative impact on the African manufacturing industry.
Demand for electronics, vehicle parts, clothing, tires, cosmetics, furniture and machinery is high due to their low prices, says South African China-Africa expert Sizo Nkala. However, Chinese products are undermining the interests of African countries in establishing their own manufacturing industries and value chains for raw materials and products. Therefore, the hope is now different – namely that China will support the industrialization of the continent.
China adapts its strategy
Because some countries are having difficulty servicing the loans, China has adapted its strategy. Beijing is now focusing more on “small and beautiful projects” with lower financial risks. One example is solar parks.
Because China produces more solar cells than it needs, the goods produced in excess of capacity are sold cheaply abroad. The US and the EU are already putting a stop to such products from China. One target could therefore be Africa. So it is no surprise that green energy is a topic at the summit.
The so-called Forum for China-Africa Cooperation has been meeting every three years since 2000, and summits like this year’s are rarer. The current summit is the largest to date – and Xi Jinping, who will give his speech in the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, is not only concerned with economic policy.
Goal: Counterweight to the West
In view of the emerging “hegemonism” – by which Beijing usually means the global power position of the USA – and the Cold War mentality, China and Africa would work more closely together in “great solidarity”, said China’s special representative for African affairs, Liu Yuxi, before the summit.
In other words, China wants to secure its influence in the Global South, i.e. in developing or emerging countries – and thus also its influence on global diplomacy and security policy. “Africa is a key to this,” says Asia-Africa analyst Cobus Van Straaten. With its 54 of 193 UN member states, Africa has considerable geopolitical voting power, which is already partly convenient for China, says Jana de Kluiver, analyst at the African Institute for Security Studies.
“The summit is taking place amidst increasing geopolitical tensions that have led to major powers increasingly competing for influence in Africa,” says de Kluiver. China will use it to expand relations, especially with countries where cooperation with Western states has so far dominated.