Refer Report

At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, attended by leaders from over 50 Chinese and African countries, discussions were held on improving the imbalanced trade structure and resolving debt issues.

President Xi Jinping has held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders of some 20 African countries who have visited Beijing since the 2nd. These include the leaders of South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Chad.

In the meeting between Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held on the 2nd, it was agreed to strengthen economic cooperation and improve the trade structure to increase South Africa’s exports to China. According to the joint statement released by the South African President’s Office, “The two countries agreed to use the China-South Africa Joint Working Group to improve the current trade structure, expand market access, and increase exports of South African products.”

Last year, China exported $25 billion worth of goods and services to South Africa, but imported only half that, $12.5 billion. South Africa requested that China resolve this trade imbalance, and the agreement was reached.

Other African countries have similar grievances to South Africa. At the Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2021, President Xi Jinping promised to import 300 billion dollars worth of goods from Africa over the next three years, but this has not been kept. There is an interpretation that South Africa, the largest economy in Africa, is expressing discontent with China on behalf of Africa.

Economic cooperation was also a key topic in the meeting between Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on the 3rd. According to the materials released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Nigeria hopes to become China’s largest trading and investment partner in Africa, and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Nigeria,” and “We will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, mineral energy, infrastructure, and other areas.”

At the ministerial meeting of the Cooperation Forum held on the 3rd, Africa’s debt problem was discussed. At the meeting, Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister and member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said, “China will support and promote the African Union’s accession to the G20 and support the BRICS cooperation system to attract new African member states,” and “China will play a key role in dealing with Africa’s debt problem in a multilateral framework, including the G20.” China is Africa’s largest creditor, but it is interpreted that it has shown a passive stance of not directly solving the problem but rather resolving it in a multilateral framework.

Beijing/Correspondent Choi Hyun-jun haojune@hani.co.kr

Source: Korean