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A Turbulent Week for China-Africa Media Narratives

Over the past week, sharply contrasting images of Chinese engagement in Africa surfaced online. Anger erupted on social media over the release of yet another violent video that shows Congolese soldiers brutally beating local miners purportedly at the behest of Chinese ...

Congo’s “La Sape” Fashion Culture Through the Unlikely Lens of a Chinese Vlogger

A newly released 2.5-hour documentary titled The Fashion Bible by Chinese travel vlogger and former state media journalist Zhang Jun, known online as “Uncle Bing” (饼叔), has quietly dropped on the Chinese social video platform Bilibili, offering one of the most ideologically layered explorations yet of ...

A Crocodile Feast in Congo Brazzaville Sparks a Cultural Reckoning on Chinese Social Media

On the bustling streets of Brazzaville’s so-called “Ghost Market,” a Chinese food vlogger nicknamed Bing Shu captured what he called the “national dish of Congo”: a fresh-killed crocodile feast, right off the street-side chopping block. His wide-eyed reactions to grilled monkeys, with teeth still intact, and bubbling ...

Africa-China 2025: Tracking Priorities on Both Sides

2025 marks a quarter-century since the first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. Since then, Africa-China engagement has been nothing short of transformational - both changing skylines across the continent and reshaping the role of the Global South in world politics more broadly. 

From 1991 to Today: The Significance of the Chinese Foreign Minister’s Annual Africa Tour

For 35 consecutive years, even during the COVID pandemic, Chinese diplomacy has upheld the tradition of dedicating its first annual diplomatic trip to Africa. This unwavering commitment to Africa is unparalleled by any other country on the UN Security Council, in ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Revealing Reactions to China’s Festival of Optics

In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...

China’s Foreign Minister Kicks off Africa Tour in Namibia

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Namibia on Monday and hailed the "time-honored friendship" between Africa and his country, which he called the continent's "most reliable partner." The Asian power's first diplomatic visit of the year has traditionally been to Africa, ...

Construction to Begin Next Year on Massive Chinese-Financed Hydroelectric Dam in Congo-Brazzaville

Congo-Brazzaville will begin the construction of a major new hydroelectric dam in January 2025, the government said Wednesday. "The government, through the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulics, has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Overseas Co Ltd for the development ...

Chinese Oil Permit in the Congo Threatens Park, Must Be Scrapped, Says NGO

An oil exploration permit held by a Chinese company in Congo-Brazzaville could threaten the ecosystem of one of the country's national parks and should be scrapped, a U.S. environmental group said on Thursday. Congo Brazzaville awarded the oil exploration permit to ...

Heard About Those Escrow Accounts Used to Secure Chinese Loans in Africa? Here’s What They Look Like in Action

There's been a lot of discussion in recent years about how Chinese lenders required high-risk borrowers in Africa and other developing countries to put large pools of money in offshore escrow accounts as a kind of insurance measure that guaranteed the creditor would be repaid. ...

Backgrounder: China-Australia Iron Ore Fight

The Australian-based company Sundance Resources is suing the China-linked Australia-based AustSino for malpractice and corruption over the Mbalam-Nabeba iron project on the border of Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. The court case has led to eye-popping allegations, including that the dispute ...

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Addressed Hundreds of African Stakeholders at the “Local FOCAC” Conference

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the keynote address this week at the 4th China-Africa Local Government Cooperation Forum (CALGC), informally dubbed "local FOCAC." The event brought together 300 stakeholders from cities, states, provinces, and other sub-national levels. Tuesday's event was ...

FOCAC PERSPECTIVES: African Civil Society Stakeholders Hope FOCAC Will Lead to a More Inclusive Dialogue With China That Promotes Industrialization and Sustainable Development

Every day leading up to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation conference on November 29th and 30th, CAP will feature perspectives from journalists, academics, activists and business leaders about what they hope will emerge from the FOCAC event in Dakar. If you ...
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