Reflections on the legacy of Jiang Zemin, China’s president from 1993 to 2003, who passed away on Wednesday, emphasized how he presided over a decade of explosive economic growth. Fewer have pointed out that he was also a key architect of China’s current relationship with Africa.
After the Mao era, emblematized by Chinese involvement in African anti-colonial struggles, the relationship went dormant as China focused on building economic ties ...
Country: European Union
EU’s Answer to China’s BRI Takes Shape in Africa
The European Union unveiled a $776 million infrastructure financing package for Africa on Tuesday as part of its Global Gateway initiative that is aimed at challenging China's growing influence in developing regions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ...
COP27 Side Deals Have Global Implications
This year's COP27 climate gathering in Egypt inspired both celebration and disappointment. While the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund was a major victory, patchy follow-through on earlier commitments from rich countries raise doubts about its actual effectiveness.
Why Battery Decoupling Projections Could Be Way Off
The United States and Europe could free themselves from their dependence on China for electric vehicle batteries by 2030, if they invest about $160 billion. This is the key finding of a new Goldman Sach forecast, which extrapolated the long-term effects ...
EU Border Tax Proposal Sparks BASIC Backlash
An EU proposal at COP27 to tax carbon-intensive products like cement and steel is drawing resistance from a group of developing countries. At a ministerial meeting of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) group on the COP sidelines, officials said:
U.S.-led Coalition Rolls Out First Major Infrastructure Project Under the New Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment
The G7 group of wealthy countries unveiled the first major initiative as part of its Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which is ostensibly aimed at countering China's dominance in financing infrastructure in developing countries. The coalition announced a $20 ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Jiang Zemin Created the Africa-China Relationship As We Know It Today
We Need to Acknowledge That Climate Justice Could Be Doomed
The historical enormity of the discussion at the COP27 climate summit around reparations to the Global South for the loss and damage caused by climate change provoked a conversation at the China Global South Project, and we wanted to share it with you. Here is Eric's take. ...
The China-Shaped Hole in Natural Gas Financing
The role of natural gas in African green transitions has become a flashpoint as Europe tries to maximize its own access to African natural gas while also discouraging African countries from factoring it into their own development plans. New research from Boston University’s Global ...
The Wider Implications of Europe’s Quest for African Natural Gas”?
It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that one of the most important tools for making it through these times is a capacity for grim amusement. Without it, one would simply be crushed by something like the recent UN ...
China Wades Into Uganda-EU Oil Pipeline Dispute
China has sided with the Ugandan government in condemning the European Parliament’s September call to pause the building of a 1,443-kilometer oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania. Zhang Lizhong, China’s ambassador to Uganda, said the EU “should not use ...
Introducing the New China-Global South Podcast
Every week, The China-Global South Podcast will explore timely issues surrounding China's engagement in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and other developing regions. Hosted by China-Global South Editor in Chief Eric Olander in Vietnam and Managing Editor Cobus van ...