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Analysis

Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China-Africa relations.

Ghana Commissions First Roads Built Under Controversial Bauxite Deal

Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia this week commissioned the first road infrastructure built under a controversial $2 billion resource-for-infrastructure deal with the Chinese conglomerate Sinohydro.  Bawumia was eager to claim the inauguration of 441 km of roads in the ...

Free Trade Agreements, China and the Art of Small State Diplomacy

By Jorge Heine The story goes that during the negotiation of the China-Chile free trade agreement (FTA) in 2005, Chile was keen to include wine, one of its leading export products, in the list of duty-free items, but China was reluctant ...

Indian Rumor Sparks Weekend of Baseless Speculation About Coup in China

All weekend there was wild speculation on both Indian and U.S. Twitter that Chinese President Xi Jinping had been placed under house arrest and that a military coup had taken place in Beijing. There was no coup, of course, ...

Friends Without Benefits?

By Chris Alden It seems a long time since the joint declaration on 4 February 2022 between President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin declared their ‘friendship without limits’ as crucial to ushering in a ‘new era’ in international relations. That ...

China’s No New Coal Power Overseas Pledge, One Year On

By Han Chen and Wei Shen On 21 September 2021, China’s president, Xi Jinping, told the UN General Assembly via video link that China would increase support for green and low-carbon energy in developing countries, and not build any new coal-fired ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Ghana Commissions First Roads Built Under Controversial Bauxite Deal

Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia this week commissioned the first road infrastructure built under a controversial $2 billion resource-for-infrastructure deal with the Chinese conglomerate Sinohydro. 

Bawumia was eager to claim the inauguration of 441 km of roads in the Cape Coast region as a win for his government, which has faced major economic headwinds over the last few months. It also papered over the fact that the project faced criticism for delayed implementation following the signing ...

China’s Global Development Initiative Meeting Signals Growing UN Influence

China’s Global Development Initiative (announced by President Xi Jinping in 2021) took a massive step towards global influence this week. It got the UN stamp of approval and is being integrated into its development plans like Agenda 2030.

Ecuador is the Latest Developing Country to Restructure Chinese Debt

The Ecuadorian government announced a major debt restructuring deal with China's two largest policy banks that will provide $1.4 billion of debt service relief over the next three years. President Guillermo Lasso said his administration reached an agreement this week ...

The Mystery of China’s Interest-Free Loan Cancelation: Connecting the Dots

Amid China's controversial role in debt crises from Sri Lanka to Zambia and beyond, the recent cancelation of 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries caused a lot of misunderstanding, not least because the Chinese government has still not published official lists ...

Understanding the Significance of China’s Interest-Free Loans Cancelation

By Oyintarelado Moses and Jyhjong Hwang On August 19, 2022, China announced it would waive 23 interest-free loans (IFLs) with maturity by the end of 2021 for 17 unspecified African countries worth an unspecified total amount. This announcement comes as ...

Xi and Modi’s Frosty Encounter At SCO Summit Worrisome For Asia-Pacific Region

There was a lot of speculation, including from us, that this month's pullback of Chinese and Indian troops along their disputed border in the Himalayas was a goodwill gesture to set the stage for a sideline meeting between Xi and Modi at last week's SCO summit in ...

China’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa is Back in the Region Promoting a Very Different Kind of Peace

Xue Bing, China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, is back in the region, making the rounds to various capitals to meet with senior-level officials. Xue kicked off his latest tour in Eritrea on Friday, where he met with President Isaias Afwerki. Then on ...

Xi, Putin and Modi in Central Asia

By Lukas Fiala With all eyes on Xi Jinping’s first foreign trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a flurry of commentators have been dissecting the significance of Xi’s meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation ...

Xi-Putin Meeting Looms Large As Chinese President Arrives in Uzbekistan

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in a blaze of media attention, especially around his possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting could have implications for the Ukraine crisis and beyond. Some Western commentators 

Xi’s Arrival in Kazakhstan Signals New Phase of Diplomacy

Xi Jinping is back. The Chinese President emerged from nearly three years of diplomatic hibernation on Wednesday when he landed in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan for a one-day visit ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit that will take place at the end of the week ...

China’s Write-Off of 23 African Loans Doesn’t Move the Debt Needle: Report

China’s announcement last month that it is canceling 23 interest-free loans (IFLs) to seventeen African countries covers at most about 1% of African debt to China, according to a new study by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.  ...
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