‘China-Africa Cooperation Forum’ opens on the 4th…Prospects for discussions on infrastructure investment

Leaders from 50 countries arrive in Beijing… Discussion on Chinese electric cars and solar power exports expected to be on the table,
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport in the early hours of the 2nd
[EPA=Yonhap News],
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, “(Beijing=Yonhap News) Correspondent Jeong Seong-jo – The summit meeting of the ‘China-Africa Cooperation Forum,’ which is attended by heads of state and representatives from more than 50 African countries, will be held in Beijing, China from the 4th to the 6th of next month.”,
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, ‘ According to Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV) and other official media reports on the 2nd, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in Beijing the previous day, and this day, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Beijing respectively.’,
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, ‘ Additionally, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Nigerian President Buhari, and Comoros President Azali Assoumani have also arrived in Beijing.’,
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, ‘ The China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which was launched following a ministerial meeting held in Beijing in 2000, is a multilateral consultative body involving China, 53 African countries with diplomatic relations with China, and the African Union.’,
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, ‘ According to the forum secretariat, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum summit was first held in Beijing in 2006, followed by Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015, and Beijing in 2018.’,
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, ” Since assuming office as the Chinese President, Xi Jinping has positioned China as the leader of the ‘Global South’ (a term commonly used to refer to emerging and developing countries, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere), and has significantly increased its efforts towards Africa.”,
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, ” While Africa is rich in resources needed for China’s new strategic industries such as electric cars, batteries, and renewable energy, there is also a political motivation to gather support from developing countries under Western containment, in order to give more ‘political’ strength to their own voices in international organizations like the United Nations.”,
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, ‘ Chinese state-owned media have stated that 52 African countries are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has emerged as a core of China’s foreign policy.’,
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, ” According to a joint study by the Australian Griffith Asia Institute and the Green Finance Development Center at Fudan University in China, Chinese investment in Africa through the BRI increased by 114% in 2021 to reach $21.7 billion (approximately 29 trillion won) compared to 2022, making Africa the largest investment region through the BRI beyond the Middle East.”,
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, ” The West has warned to pay attention not only to China’s ‘investment’ but also its ‘loans.’ They point out that over the years, China has provided huge loans to African countries, trapping poor countries in a ‘debt trap’ and using it to control important infrastructure, among other things.”,
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, ‘ AFP reported that China loaned billions of dollars for infrastructure development in Africa over the past decade, sending tens of thousands of its own workers to carry out large-scale construction projects, while acquiring natural resources such as copper, gold, lithium, and rare earth minerals.’,
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, ‘ On the other hand, it is expected that African leaders visiting China will demand further investment in infrastructure and other areas from China amid intense global competition over African resources and influence.’,
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, ‘ Reuters predicted that in exchange for promising large-scale infrastructure investments, China will seek to expand exports such as electric cars and solar power that have become targets of the Western camp in recent years.’,
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, ” China is making efforts to ‘set the tone’ at this forum, which is being held after a gap of three years.”,
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, ” The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently granted the first question to the domestic media asking about the achievements and significance of China-Africa cooperation, and explained its detailed stance, while Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a welcoming statement titled ‘Moving forward hand in hand on the path of building a high-level China-Africa community of shared future.'”,
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, ‘ Beijing is adorned with promotional materials emphasizing the friendship between the two sides, and official media outlets have also covered related articles extensively.’,
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