Follow CGSP on Social Media

Listen to the CGSP Podcast

China’s New Priorities in Africa

Somali President Mohamed Farmaajo and Chinese Ambassador Qin Jian meet to discuss bilateral ties and Taiwan's recent moves to establish diplomatic ties with the self-declared state of Somaliland.

While Africa’s value to the outside world has historically been framed largely in economic terms — as a place to extract resources and as a market to sell goods — China is changing that equation.

The fact is, Africa just isn’t that important to China economically. All 54 African countries combined account for less than 4% of China’s 4+ trillion global trade balance while Beijing still lags far behind the U.S., France, and others in terms of FDI.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.