The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...
Category: MENA
Morocco is Now a Major Hub for Chinese Investment in Africa
Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised a lot of people last month when he made an unannounced stopover in Morocco on his way home from the G20 summit in Brazil. The North African country doesn't often come to mind when considering China's ...
ChinaMed Observer: Wang Yi’s First Trip of 2024 According to the Egyptian and Tunisian Press
By Mariateresa Natuzzi In this issue of the ChinaMed Observer, we take stock of Tunisian and Egyptian press coverage of Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s recent trip to Cairo and Tunis. These visits were the inaugural stops of the ...
Unpacking Wang Yi’s Africa Tour
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Africa this week. It has become a Chinese tradition that FMs make their first overseas trip to Africa. It triggers a second (less red-carpeted) tradition: people like me puzzling over why certain countries were chosen over others. ...
China Is Going Big in Algeria and We Should Pay Attention
By Lukas Fiala With most commentators and analysts playing a rhetorical game of hide and seek with Qin Gang, China’s now-former foreign minister, it’s easy to miss what really mattered over the past week and a half. One event we should ...
Egypt’s Chinese Green Hydrogen Project Could be a Blueprint for Africa
Egypt and China are seeking to consolidate economic and investment cooperation in various areas of common interest, including clean energy through the China hydrogen project. The China International Energy Group (CIEG) intends to establish a $5 to $8 billion project ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Blinken’s Visit to Algeria Highlights North Africa’s Heightened Geopolitical Importance
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (photo) will cross the border from Morocco to Algeria on Wednesday where he's to meet with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. And the fact that this is the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State ...
New Data Reveals COVID’s Impact on Chinese Engagement in MENA and Horn of Africa
By Leonardo Bruni The ChinaMed Project's newly-updated China-Medittereanean dataset provides the first insights into the impact that COVID has had on Chinese engagement in the Middle East & North Africa as well as the Horn of Africa regions. The ...
Leading Scholar Argues the Middle East is Pivoting to Regional Cooperation and China
The retreat of the United States is causing a ‘wave of reconciliation' in the Middle East and reorienting these countries towards China. So says Ding Long, a prominent professor at the Middle East Institute at Shanghai University of International Studies.
Right Now There Are Two Chinese Special Envoys on the Move in Africa
Two Chinese Special Envoys are currently touring Africa. Zhai Jun, China's Special Envoy to the Middle East arrived in Sudan late Monday night, his second visit there in a month. Zhai is currently on a week-long tour of Middle East and North African countries ...
China’s Mideast Special Envoy Meets With Arab League Secretary-General
While China's Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, is on a tour of regional capitals, Beijing's other Special Envoy, Zhai Jun, is doing the same in the Middle East. Zhai (second to the right) ...
Iranian Security Service Buys Advanced Video Surveillance Technology From China
One of China's largest video surveillance companies, Tiandy, is reportedly selling large quantities of sophisticated AI-enabled cameras with facial recognition technology to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and other Iranian security services, according to a report published earlier this month by surveillance research group IPVM.
While China’s Global Vaccine Distributions Close in on a Billion Doses Delivered, Africa’s Share Remains Small
While China ramps up its global vaccine distributions, particularly in Asia, deliveries to African countries have remained consistently modest since the beginning of the pandemic. So far, only 61.1 million doses have been delivered to African countries, predominantly in the MENA ...