The DR Congo government’s move to review some of the multi-billion Chinese mining contracts surfaced as a topic on Monday at the Foreign Ministry’s regular press briefing in Beijing where the often outspoken, sharp-tongued spokesman Zhao Lijian delicately addressed the issue.

“The infrastructure-for-minerals package cooperation between China and the DRC is a model of practical cooperation between the two countries,” Zhao replied to the journalist from Agence France Presse who posed the question. “The Chinese enterprises also actively fulfill their social responsibilities, give back to the local community and improve local people’s welfare,” he added, clear trying to refute accusations by Congolese stakeholders that Chinese companies have not lived up to their commitments to provide sufficient infrastructure in accordance with the contracts.