Author: Eric Olander
Eric Olander is the co-founder of the China Global South Project, an independent, non-partisan media initiative dedicated to exploring every facet of China’s engagement in Africa. Eric is a fluent Mandarin-speaker and a longtime China-watcher with more than 25 years of journalism experience at many of the world’s leading media companies, including CNN, the BBC, and FRANCE24, among others. He received his undergraduate degree in East African History from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in Chinese Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong.
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For the first time, the DR Congo took delivery of a donation of Chinese-made vaccines. A shipment of 400,000 doses of Sinovac and an equal number of syringes arrived on Wednesday at the capital's N'djili Airport. Ambassador Zhu Jing led a handover ...
Chinese Vaccine Exports Drop Sharply in August as More Countries Opt for mRNA Jabs
A growing number of governments that initially relied on vaccines from China are now reportedly turning to U.S. and European suppliers for more advanced mRNA shots. It's well-documented, even among leading Chinese public health officials, that mRNA vaccines ...
Beijing’s Top Diplomat For Africa Reflects on Why It’s So Difficult for China to Change the Negative Media Narrative
China needs to overcome the language barrier and do a better job of its story in Africa, said Beijing's top diplomat for the continent in a keynote address last week at the World Internet Conference in the Zhejiang city of Wuzhen. "One of our ...
South Africa is Training More Tour Guides to Speak Chinese
Thanks to direct flights and a streamlined visa approval process, visitors from China were among the fastest-growing segment in South Africa's tourism market. At least, that was before the COVID-19 outbreak. But once the borders open again and travel resumes, South ...
TRANSLATION: Smear Campaigns Against Chinese Mining Companies in the DR Congo
There is growing frustration among Chinese stakeholders over the way that Chinese mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been depicted in the ongoing review of foreign mining contracts by the government in Kinshasa. The editors at the Global Mining (世界矿业) WeChat channel summarized ...
New Research Reveals China’s BRI Riddled With Corruption, Labor Problems and Billions in “Hidden Debts”
Developing countries along China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) owe nearly $400 billion in so-called "hidden debts," according to a landmark new study published on Wednesday from AidData researchers at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. These newly discovered ...
Looks Like Latin America Will Be the First Place Where B3W Will Take on China’s BRI
It looks like the U.S.-led Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative that was announced at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England earlier this summer is moving forward and Latin America is going to be the first region where Washington aims to challenge China's Belt and Road Initiative. ...
New Report Examines China’s Expanding Role in Multilateral Development Banks
China is increasingly turning to Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to pursue its geopolitical agenda and promote alternate norms of global governance, according to a new report published on Wednesday by the London-based Overseas Development Institute. The report by Chris ...
This Chart Explains Why DRC President Tshisekedi Wants to Renegotiate Those Chinese Mining Contracts
While DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi has said that he wants to review foreign (mostly Chinese) mining contracts to ensure they're more equitable, he hasn't provided any specific explanation for why he's choosing to do so now. There are many theories ...
DRC Cabinet Tasked to Deliver Report on Sicomines in Two Weeks
The DR Congo's equivalent of the presidential cabinet, the Council of Ministers, has been tasked to create a commission to investigate “major legal, technical and financial problems observed in the collaboration agreement” of the $6 billion Sicomines deal between Congo's state mining company and a consortium of ...
ICBC Launches New China-Africa Currency Center in Hunan
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Hunan province launched a new cross-border China-Africa currency center on Tuesday to facilitate transactions between Chinese yuan and six African currencies including the Kenyan shilling, Nigerian naira, Botswanan pula, Ghanaian sedi, and the Zambian kwacha.
Check Out What Exhibitors Are Selling at This Year’s China-Africa Trade Expo in Hunan
A big part of Chinese trade expos, like the one that's taking place this week in Hunan, is the opportunity to sell stuff... lots and lots of stuff. Thousands of local residents flood the exhibition floor at these fairs to taste ...