Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
Indonesian President Widodo Arrives in Beijing For High Profile Meeting With Xi Jinping
Indonesian President Joko Widodo landed in Beijing on Monday night for a two-day visit that will be capped by what is presumed to be an in-person meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This will be the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago that ...
Indonesian President Widodo’s Meeting With Xi This Week Will be Chinese President’s First Since Pandemic Beginning
Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Beijing on Monday for a two-day state visit to China, where he will hold a symbolically important meeting with President Xi Jinping. This week's talks will be the first in-person meeting between President Xi and ...
3 Ways to Mobilize China’s BRI for Energy Transitions
By Rebecca Ray A global consensus is forming: countries around the world must embark on energy transitions to mitigate climate change and protect the health of their own citizens. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) could play a key facilitating role, ...
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi Wraps Up Southeast Asian Tour with Promise for South China Sea Code of Conduct
Wang Yi, China's Minister of Foreign Affairs, pledged progress on a long-awaited code of conduct for the South China Sea region. His comments came as he wrapped up a five-nation tour of the region in Malaysia. China's claim on much of the South ...
First Zambia, Now Ethiopia: African Debt Restructuring Gains Momentum
The Franco-Chinese-led Creditors Committee overseeing debt restructuring for three African countries under the auspices of the G20's Common Framework will meet on Monday for the first time to discuss the situation in Ethiopia. The same committee has been meeting in Paris for ...
African Countries Owe Way More to Private Creditors Than to China, Says New NGO Report
African governments owe nearly three times as much money to Western private creditors than they do to Chinese lenders, according to a new report by the UK-based NGO Debt Justice. The group's findings are based on World Bank data and reveal a ...
China and the Prospect of Early Retirement of Coal Plants in the Global South
By Alex Clark, Christoph Nedopil and Cecilia Springer Formerly the world’s largest public financier of coal, China has committed not to build new coal plants overseas. China has financed between 41 GW and 52 GW of currently operating ...
China’s Frenetic Diplomatic Push at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bali
Coverage of the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Bali was dominated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's high-profile exit from the meeting and the first encounter since October between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. But the event also saw a flurry of Chinese diplomatic ...
Q&A: China’s DRC Envoy Says Beijing Open to Cooperate With U.S. in Congo
In 2021, Sino-Congolese relations were somewhat shaken when two major Chinese investments in the mining sector in D.R. Congo were questioned and investigated by NGOs and Congolese authorities. The Sicomines project was the target for some of this criticism. The ...
It’s Been a Downright Terrible Week For Two of China’s Most Important Mining Ventures in Africa
Two of China's largest and most important mining ventures in Africa, one in Guinea and the other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, face the real possibility of being shut down after years of contentious relations with their local partners. ...
Kenya’s Latest Economic Data is a Warning to Other Developing Countries With Large Chinese Debts and Trade Deficits
Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) released grim new data this week that highlights the acute problems confronting developing countries with large Chinese trade deficits and debts, both of which increased substantially: TRADE: The country’s trade deficit with China surged ...
Great Changes Unseen in a Century (and Frequently Ignored Now)
Big things are happening in the world, but don’t expect me to tell you what they are. Like many South Africans, I’ve been a little distracted these days. The country’s notorious electricity situation has worsened to blackouts three times a ...