By Laurie Chen and Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) -President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday to boost Chinese support in debt-laden Africa with nearly $51 billion in financing over three years, support for more infrastructure projects and the creation of at least 1 million jobs .
China was ready to step up cooperation with Africa in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment, Xi told delegates from more than 50 African countries gathered in Beijing for the triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit.
“China and Africa account for a third of the world’s population. Without our modernization, there will be no global modernization,” Xi said.
China, the world’s largest bilateral lender, pledged to implement three times as many infrastructure projects in resource-rich Africa, despite Xi’s stated new preference for “small and beautiful” programs based on selling advanced and green technologies in which Chinese companies have invested heavily.
The Chinese leader pledged 360 billion yuan ($50.70 billion) in financial support over three years, but specified that 210 billion yuan would be disbursed through credit lines and at least 70 billion in new investments by Chinese companies.
Smaller amounts would be provided through military aid and other projects.
At the 2021 China Africa Summit in Dakar, China pledged at least $10 billion in investments and the same amount in credit lines. This time, the financial support would be in yuan, in a clear attempt to further internationalize the economy.
After the opening ceremony, delegates adopted the Beijing Declaration on Building “A Shared Future in the New Era” as well as the Beijing Action Plan for 2025-2027, Chinese state media said.
Xi also called for a China-Africa network of land and sea links and coordinated development, urging Chinese contractors to return to the continent now that COVID-19 restrictions that disrupted his projects were lifted.
He made no mention of debt in his speech, despite Beijing being the largest bilateral lender to many African states. However, the action plan included conditions for postponement of repayment and called for the establishment of an African credit rating agency.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the summit that African countries’ inadequate access to debt relief and scarce resources are a recipe for social unrest.
African loan schemes vary from country to country. Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia come after China before countries such as Ethiopia. Others, such as Kenya, are said to have many creditors, including European countries. There are also debts owed to multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and private bondholders.
SHARED FUTURE
The forum outlines a three-year program for China and every African state bar Eswatini that has ties with Taiwan.
In addition to 30 infrastructure connectivity projects, Xi said China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa, offering to cooperate on nuclear technology and address an energy shortage that has slowed industrialization efforts.
But he did not repeat his pledge at the 2021 forum in Dakar for the Asian giant to buy $300 billion worth of African goods, pledging only to unilaterally expand market access.
Analysts say Beijing’s rules on sanitary checks at factories are too strict, leaving China unable to keep this promise.
But it appears Africa will receive more Chinese funding instead. Last year, China approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa, the first annual increase since 2016.
“I am here to see how we can best advance our relationship with China,” said Princess Dugba, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, on the sidelines of the summit.
“China is giving us a fishing port, one of the first of its kind,” she said.
($1=7.0976 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)
