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: South Africa
Why It Isn’t China’s Fault Its Trade With Africa Is So Distorted
China is forecast to break another trade record with Africa this year, potentially even crossing the $300 billion barrier. While that sounds great, the big number masks a distorted trading relationship that is mostly concentrated in extractives among a small handful ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Jiang Zemin Created the Africa-China Relationship As We Know It Today
China’s COVID Chaos Bites South African Trade
China’s COVID-related shutdowns and protests are hitting South African businesses. The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said the disruptions compounded earlier delays on the SA side. “China is responsible for so much of the products we consume. ...
Hunan Throws an Africa-China Fruit Trade Matchmaking Party
China’s Hunan province cemented its role as a hub for African agricultural trade via a recent matchmaking meeting to team up major Chinese fruit buyers with key African producers like South Africa and Kenya. It is an example of the innovative ways Hunan is boosting ...
How the Chinese Protests Are Being Discussed in South Africa
Coverage of the ongoing protests in China has been relatively muted in major African media markets like Kenya and Nigeria. Most outlets only covered the protests sporadically and mostly relied on Western news agencies. Much more coverage was dedicated to Africa-China issues, like trade and ...
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:
Seminar Highlights China-Africa Media Alignment
Chinese and African media professionals committed to working together to reshape media narratives about Africa-China relations. Delegates from the continent gathered in Nairobi for a seminar organized by the state-owned China Media Group. Aziz Hartley, editor-in-chief of the partly Chinese-owned Independent ...
Xi’s State-Centric Focus an Opportunity for Africa: Analyst
The South African analyst Steven Kuo wrote in a recent column in the financial daily Business Day that Chinese President Xi Jinping's third term heralds a shift towards state-owned enterprises: "That means there will be more Chinese private enterprises that are ...
Ladies and Gentlemen, Xi Jinping is Back in the Diplomatic Game
After three years of avoiding major in-person diplomatic engagements, Chinese President Xi Jinping re-emerged on the diplomatic stage with a flurry of at least eight bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Spread among the President's ...
Why Détente Between China and Australia Could Be a Problem for Some Developing Countries
Anthony Albanese is the first Australian Prime Minister in six years to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and from the looks of their brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday, there's a glimmer of optimism that the strained ...
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. ...
A Conversation with Molly Phee, the Top U.S. Diplomat for Africa
This Summer the United States updated its foreign policy for Africa when it shifted the focus from competing with China to improving governance and bolstering trade ties with the region. Now, three months later, the State Department's top diplomat for ...