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The News Feed is curated by CGSP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

Xi’s Third Term Will Power Up Chinese Messaging in Africa

China's President Xi Jinping attends the closing ceremony of the 20th Chinese Communist Party's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 22, 2022. Noel CELIS / AFP
Xi Jinping’s third term will likely see the re-energizing and reshaping of China’s external relationships after its COVID lockdown. But how will China’s political engagement with Africa evolve?  In a ...
by Cobus van Staden

Zambia Hopes for Debt Deal by Q1 Next Year

File image of Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane discussing the country's national budget at the Zambian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Image via the Zambian Finance Ministry.
The International Monetary Fund’s head of strategy, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, will travel to Beijing next week for meetings with Chinese officials as part of a push for progress on Zambia’s debt restructuring.  ...
by Cobus van Staden

Djibouti Has a Very Specific Debt Problem…

Source: World Bank data and Thierry Pairault, Emeritus Research Director at France’s National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) and at the EHESS Research Centre on Modern and Contemporary China (CECMC)
Djibouti this week reportedly suspended debt repayments to its two major creditors, China and Kuwait, due to a major increase in debt servicing costs likely caused by interest rate hikes and ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s COVID Chaos Bites South African Trade

Workers and security personnel wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) guard the entrance to a residential area under lockdown due to Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions in Beijing on November 29, 2022. Noel CELIS / AFP
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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Djibouti Suspends Debt Payments While Rwanda Gets (Just a Little) Relief From China

File image of Djibouti's Doraleh Container Terminal which is partially owned and operated by the state-owned China Merchants Group. Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP
🇩🇯 DJIBOUTI: The government reportedly suspended debt repayments to two of its largest creditors, likely China and Kuwait, in response to a dramatic increase in the country’s debt servicing costs in 2022, according ...
by Eric Olander

Pentagon: China to Expand Security Presence in Belt and Road Countries

The United States military is forecasting an expansion of China’s security presence around the world, particularly in Belt and Road countries, to better protect its people and interests abroad. The ...
by Eric Olander

EU’s Answer to China’s BRI Takes Shape in Africa

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greets African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki at EU headquarters in Brussels on November 28, 2022. Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
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 ...
by Eric Olander

New Data Reveals Apple is Steadily Shifting Its Supply Chain Out of China to Other Countries in Asia

Nicholas Kamm / AFP
China’s once-dominant role in Apple’s supply chain appears to be ending as the technology giant relocates more and more of its production to other countries in Asia, particularly Vietnam and India. Since 2019, ...
by Eric Olander

China’s Special Representative for Latin America Wraps Up Five-Nation Tour

Qiu Xiaoqi, China's Special Representative for Latin America, completed a five-nation tour last week with stops in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia. Images via the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
High-level Chinese visits to Central and South America have become rare in recent years, so it was notable when Beijing’s special representative for the region embarked on a five-nation tour to 
by Eric Olander

How the Chinese Protests Are Being Discussed in South Africa

Thembisa Fakude, a senior research fellow and director at Africa Asia Dialogues in Johannesburg, discussed the protests in China on the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Arab Media’s Cautious Coverage of the China COVID Protests

Presenter on the privately-owned Egyptian television network Sada Al-Balad discussing the anti-government protests in China.
A number of news outlets across the Arab world acknowledged the ongoing protests in major Chinese cities, a somewhat surprising development given the sensitivities in these countries about large-scale anti-government demonstrations. Most of ...
by Nesrine Kamal

FACT CHECK: No, Kenya’s Lamu and Mombasa Are Not Being Targeted by the Chinese Military

The prominent Kenyan daily The Standard this week published a breathless front-page story claiming that the U.S. government says it is concerned that China wants to leverage the Kenyan ports of ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese World Cup Broadcast Doesn’t Show Maskless Crowds

The Chinese broadcast on the left doesn't show any crowd shots whereas the main international feed on the right shows plenty of maskless fan shots.
When Chinese football fans turned on their TVs to watch World Cup matches from Qatar, there was a sense of disbelief over how tens of thousands of maskless fans were all packed together in ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

CGSP Take: How Does the Venezuela Crisis Affect China’s Relationship with the Global South?

By Cobus van Staden, CGSP Head of Research,
China has sharply criticized the Trump administration’s incursion into Venezuela and its detention of President Nicolás Maduro. 

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New Research Reveals China’s Overseas Investment Priorities: Asia is Tops, Africa is “Basically a Rounding Error”

Source: China’s Ministry of Commerce, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
New research reveals fascinating patterns in Chinese overseas foreign direct investment in the nearly twenty-year period from 2003 to 2021. Not surprisingly, Asia has been the preferred destination, followed by Latin America, most ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: Beijing Considering Hosting a Third Belt & Road Forum Next Year

China's President Xi Jinping arrives for the G20 leaders' summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. Mast IRHAM / POOL / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing is considering hosting a third Belt & Road forum next year, the first time a major BRI event would be convened in China since the beginning of ...
by Eric Olander

Thailand’s Chinese-financed High Speed Railway Gets Boost After Xi Visit to Bangkok

Deng Xijun is China's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN.)
The long-delayed 609-kilometer China-Thailand high-speed standard gauge railway is once again a top priority for both sides following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Thailand last week, where the project topped the agenda ...
by Eric Olander

Vietnam is an Increasingly Popular Destination for World Leaders Looking to Broaden Their Asia Strategies Beyond China

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is the latest head of state to visit Vietnam as more countries look to expand their Asia engagement strategies beyond China. President Museveni arrived in Hanoi ...
by Eric Olander

China-Africa Trade Forum Opens in Zhejiang Province

400 participants from 47 different African countries are participating in this week’s China-Africa trade and economic relations forum now underway in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. The event highlights the increasingly prominent ...
by Eric Olander

The Indian Pundit Who Created the Discredited Chinese “Debt Trap” Meme is Still Convinced He’s Right

The creator of the widely-debunked Chinese “debt trap” meme is at it again with a new litany of breathless warnings about the risks developing countries take on when they borrow money ...
by Eric Olander

How China Became a Global E-Vehicle Leader

A worker checks the cables on the battery for Ford Motor Co. battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks under production at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
While Western automotive industries are trying to figure out how to decouple their supply chains from the Chinese battery sector, Chinese commentators don’t seem particularly panicked.  In fact, the e-vehicle industry is being ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese EV Battery Maker Unveils Multibillion Dollar IPO, Will Use Proceeds to Develop Next-Gen Cobalt-free Batteries

Hector RETAMAL / AFP
One of China’s hottest electric vehicle battery makers announced plans to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s NASDAQ-like STAR market in a bid to raise $2 billion to build next-generation ...
by Eric Olander

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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Zimbabwe’s Chinese-Built Parliament Building Ready for Business

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa will formally inaugurate the country’s new parliament building on Wednesday. The building was financed as a ‘gift’ by the Chinese government and built by Shanghai Construction Group Co. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Why Battery Decoupling Projections Could Be Way Off

A worker checks the cables on the battery for Ford Motor Co. battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks under production at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
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 ...
by Cobus van Staden

Xi Seeks to Contrast China’s Approach in Asia Against the U.S.

China's President Xi Jinping looks on during the handover ceremony at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on November 19, 2022. Jack TAYLOR / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a week-long diplomatic sprint in Southeast Asia this weekend with the conclusion of the APEC summit in Bangkok. Prior to his return to China on Saturday, President Xi restated ...
by Eric Olander

Few Noticed One of the Most Important Sideline Meetings at APEC

Chilean President Gabriel Boric met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bangkok on Friday. Image via @gabrielboric.
Chinese President Xi Jinping held dozens of quick sideline bilateral meetings with various international leaders over the past several weeks but few were as important as the one with Chile’s Gabriel Boric at ...
by Eric Olander

Tens of Thousands Cue for a Kilometer to Get Into Chinese Fast Fashion Pop-up Store in Brazil

7,000 people lined up on the first of a five-day pop-up store opened by Chinese fast fashion giant Shein in the Brazilian city of São Paulo in November 2023.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians waited in line for hours last week for their chance to get into a pop-up store in São Paulo that was open for just five days by Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

Kenya’s Transport Minister to Chinese Ambassador: No Hard Feelings About the Release of SGR Loan Agreements, Right?

Kipchumba Murkomen is Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport. @kipmurkomen
Kenya’s Road and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was all smiles last week when Chinese ambassador Zhou Pingjian made a courtesy call to his office in what appears to be an effort to show that ...
by Eric Olander

WEEK IN REVIEW: The G77 Bloc of Countries Together With China To Propose a New “Loss and Damage” Fund at the COP27 Summit

Protesters take part in a demonstration called by the Climate Alliance European city network in Madrid on November 12, 2022. Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP
The G77 bloc of countries together with China is reportedly going to propose a new “loss and damage” fund at the COP27 summit to provide finance to poor countries impacted by climate disasters. The fund ...
by Eric Olander
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