Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
China’s DRC Envoy Calls for Better Protection of Chinese Nationals in Eastern Congo
Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zhao Bin, urged security officials in the southeastern Tanganyika Province near the border with Tanzania to do more to protect Chinese nationals in the area. Kidnappings and murders of Chinese nationals in ...
Discourse Check: How China Frames Its Involvement in DRC Mining
Western opposition to Chinese involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining sector is sharpening, with measures proposed to ban supplies of cobalt from Chinese companies. This opposition partly reflects concerns about Chinese control of a strategic resource, but it is also ...
New Power Station in the DR Congo Showcases Why Democratically-Elected Leaders in Africa Really Like Working With China
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi was all smiles on Tuesday when he officially inaugurated a new 220Kv power substation that will significantly improve the power supply to an estimated two million residents in the capital, Kinshasa. The President was joined by Chinese ambassador ...
Africa is at the Center of U.S.-China Competition for Critical Resources
U.S. lawmakers met this week to discuss how to combat the use of child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's cobalt mining sector which they claim is largely controlled by Chinese mining companies. The issue is part of a ...
U.S. Lawmakers Weigh Sanctions, Criminal Charges Against Chinese Companies Over Child Cobalt Mining in DR Congo
U.S. legislators are proposing much stricter measures to counter China's dominance of the cobalt supply chain, including sanctions that would restrict the import of any cobalt mined by Chinese companies in the DR Congo. The proposed law by New Jersey ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
Truckers Strike Paralyzes Chinese Copper/Cobalt Shipments From the DR Congo
Truckers in the DR Congo have brought the all-important copper and cobalt trade to a standstill over their refusal to drive unless logistics firms pay an additional $700 risk allowance fee. The strike that began late last month has now ...
Democratic Republic of Congo Unveils Chinese-Built Data Center
DRC Prime Minister Sama Lukonde on Friday cut the ribbon on a new data center financed by China and built by Huawei. The minister said the center will improve data management and national financial performance. Huawei announced in March that it will ...
Three Dead in Newest Attack on Chinese Mine In DRC
Three people were killed and five injured in an attack on a Chinese mining operation in the Nganja district of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province earlier this week. According to reports on Chinese community WeChat sites, the victims were all Congolese, including one of ...
A Billion Dollar Copper/Cobalt Mine is Up For Grabs in the DR Congo, Providing Rare Opening For the U.S. to Get in the Market
For the first time in seven years, the United States can re-enter the all-important critical resources mining sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where China is the dominant actor. The persistently low price of cobalt, a metal used to ...
Chinese Company Exports Illegal Timber Worth Millions from DRC Despite Ban: Report
Congo King Baisheng Forestry Development, a Chinese-owned timber company, exported $5 million worth of illegally logged timber in the first six months of 2023 alone, according to a new report by Global Witness. The NGO used satellite imagery to show that the company kept logging in the ...