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The News Feed is a curated selection of the most important China-Africa news edited by CAP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Wraps Up 5-Day Visit to China

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen met with his Chinese counterpart last week but no specifics of their discussion were released to the public. Image via Xinhua.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, who is also deputy prime minister, concluded a five-day visit to China on Sunday following meetings with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. None ...

Both Kenya and China Dismiss Reuters Report on Chinese Hacking as “Sheer Nonsense” and “Sponsored Propaganda”

The Chinese and Kenyan governments issued separate statements that blasted last week’s report by Reuters that claimed Chinese hackers had penetrated the computer networks of eight Kenyan ministries. Citing security concerns, the report ...

The Kenyan Government Apparently is Unaware China Doesn’t Finance Railways in Africa Anymore

The dotted line shows the proposed expansion of the SGR to Kenya's border with Uganda.
The Kenyan government is going to make one more attempt to try and persuade China’s policy banks to lend them money to extend the Standard Gauge Railway from its current terminus in the Rift ...

U.S.-Led Talks With Asian Countries Aims to Reduce Dependence on Chinese Supply Chains

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Ministerial meeting in Detroit, Michigan on May 27, 2023. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
The 14-member states of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) met in Detroit on Friday, where they said a deal to diversify supply chains beyond China is “substantially completed.“ U.S. Commerce Secretary ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: Official Navigation Beacons Placed Close to Contested Spratly Islands in South China Sea

Image from the Philippines Coast Guard on February 13th that purportedly shows a Chinese Coast Guard targeting them with a military grade laser. AFP
China’s Transport Ministry confirmed that three official navigation beacons have been placed close to the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. This follows a similar positioning by the Philippines as the countries ...

Chinese Hackers Targeted Kenyan Government on Debt: Report

The allegations that Chinese hackers targeted the Kenyan government is front-page news in Kenya.
Kenya is abuzz following an exclusive report by Reuters that Chinese entities repeatedly hacked Kenyan government computer networks. The report cites cybersecurity reports and government sources to allege that unidentified Chinese actors surveilled eight ...

Difficult Conversations Underway in Beijing About China’s Mining Interests in the DR Congo

DR Congo Minister of Mines N'samba Kalambayi visited the Beijing offices of mining giant China Molybdenum Company for talks with CEO Sun Ruiwan about the massive TFM cobalt mine.
Even before DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, his ministers fanned across the Chinese capital earlier this week to lay the groundwork for what are going to be delicate negotiations ...

Chinese Media is Surprisingly Quiet Over DRC President’s State Visit to Beijing

Front page of the nationalist online news site Observer (观察) that made no mention of DRC President Félix Tshisekedi's state visit that began on Wednesday.
Congolese ministers have been in Beijing all week preparing for Wednesday’s arrival of President Félix Tshisekedi. Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula met with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on Monday and Mining Minister N’samba Kalambayi ...

The Chinese EV That Comes With a Uniquely South African Feature: Load Shedding Back Up

Image via BYD.
Chinese EV major BYD will launch its new compact electric crossover next month in South Africa. The BYD Atto 3 is a pretty standard EV with a range of about 420km. While car ...

Mix of Gratitude and Fear in Ghana Over China’s Role in the Country’s Ongoing Debt Crisis

File image of Ghanaian President President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo. Nipah Dennis / AFP
Joy News, one of Ghana’s largest media companies, published a pair of stories this week that revealed the complex emotions many in the West African country have about China’s role in the ongoing debt crisis. ...

South Africa’s Crumbling Railways Are Becoming a Threat to Global Supply Chains

Traffic on South Africa’s main railway line that connects the country’s urban hubs of Johannesburg and Pretoria with Africa’s largest port in Durban operated at just 25% capacity last week — hobbled by ...

The Uphill Journey to a BRICS Currency

The wide fluctuation in value of the current five BRICS currencies presents a barrier to a unified currency. Graphs via Business Day.
The South African government announced in May that discussions around setting up a common currency will be on the agenda of the BRICS summit in August. Calls for the bloc, made up of Brazil, ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Proposed New York Law Could Reshape Debt Negotiations Around the World

A bill currently under consideration in New York State could reshape sovereign debt renegotiations around the world by making private creditors accept the same losses as the U.S. government would as a sovereign creditor instead of holding out for a full payback.
The bill comes as countries like Zambia and Sri Lanka face their loan renegotiations being dragged out for years as U.S.-based private lenders stonewall to obtain better deals. 52% of the ...

The Growing Influence of Chinese Policing in Africa

About 40 African countries have formal law enforcement agreements with China. These have increased rapidly over the last five years. Map via Africa Center for Strategic Studies
While joint military exercises between China and countries like South Africa draw controversy, much less attention is being paid to the role of policing in Africa-China relations. A fascinating new paper by the ...

Hunan’s Trade With Africa is Up 90% in 2023

Chinese customs officers inspect some of the 45 tons of recently arrived Kenyan avocados. Image via Xinhua.
The central Chinese province of Hunan has spent years positioning itself as an African trading hub, and according to the latest customs data, its efforts are now paying significant dividends. Trade between the ...

China Angry With Japan Over G7 Joint Statement, Labels Accusations as “Hype”

Statement by the Chinese embassy in Tokyo condemning the G7's final communiqué that was sharply critical of Beijing.
The Chinese government lodged a formal complaint to Japan over the wording of the G7 communiqué published over the weekend.  Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Saturday that China felt it ...

U.S. Conducting Due Diligence for Development of the Lobito Corridor in Southern Africa Where Chinese Interests Are Already Very Active

The United States government claims it has mobilized $30 billion so far through various public and private channels to build railways, data centers and other infrastructure initiatives in developing countries. The White ...

Papua New Guinea, Micronesia to Sign Agreement With U.S. as Pacific Island Countries Increasingly Take Sides in Great Power Rivalry

U.S. Secretary of States Antony Blinken holds a bilateral meeting with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape during the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on May 22, 2023. ADEK BERRY / AFP
Pacific Island Countries (PIC) are the current focal point in the escalating competition for influence between the United States and China around the world. Both Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Micronesia signed ...

UBS Analyst Provides Upbeat Forecast on the Belt and Road, Challenging Skeptics Who’ve Already Written the BRI’s Obituary

Shanghai-based UBS Securities analyst Robin Xu explained to CNBC why he's bullish on China's Belt and Road. Image via CNBC.
If your media diet is predominantly from Western, Japanese or Indian sources, then it’s quite likely you’ve seen one of the countless obituaries this year for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The narrative ...

DRC President Tshisekedi Will Have a Lot to Say to Xi Jinping When They Meet This Week

File image of DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi who will spend five days in China this week beginning on Wednesday.
The Chinese government confirmed that DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi will embark on a five-day official state visit beginning Wednesday that will also include a meeting with Xi Jinping. Speculation about the President’s trip ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang to Visit Australia in July

China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang speaks during a press conference at the Media Center of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 7, 2023. NOEL CELIS / AFP
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will visit Australia in July in the latest indication that tensions between the two countries are easing. In another sign of détente, Beijing is lifting many of the economic ...

Biden’s Canceled Trip Framed as All About China

Local resident reading a report on U.S. President Joe Biden's canceled visit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Image: Adek Berry / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to cut his Asia-Pacific trip short to deal with debt ceiling negotiations with Republican counterparts is drawing criticism. After attending the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden would have been ...

Ghana Gets Debt Breakthrough

Kristalina Georgieva is the Managing Director of the IMF
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved a $3 billion debt bailout deal for Ghana. The debt-distressed country will receive an immediate payment of $600 million. The announcement is ...

Domestic U.S. Politics Undermine Washington’s Ability to Challenge China’s Influence in Asia-Pacific

A planned summit of Quad leaders from the United States, India, Australia, and Japan in Sydney next week has been canceled after U.S. President Joe Biden pulled out of his visit. Jim WATSON / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden will leave for Japan on Wednesday to attend a G7 leaders summit in Hiroshima, but rather than continue on to Australia and what would have been a landmark visit ...

China’s Ambassador to Angola Promises President Continued Support for Infrastructure Development

Angolan President João Lourenço welcoming Chinese ambassador Gao Tong for a discussion at the presidential palace Palácio de Ferro in Luanda on May 16, 2023. Image via the Angolan presidency.
Angolan President João Lourenço met with China’s ambassador to Luanda, Gao Tong, on Monday for an update on the progress of several high-profile infrastructure projects that China is developing. Gao reassured the president that the ...

China’s Mixed Success With Media Influence in Africa

Bob Wekesa, longtime Africa-China scholar and deputy director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States at Wits University, (left) spoke with Paul Nantulya (right), research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.
Although now more than a decade old, China’s large media presence in Africa remains poorly understood on the continent and by most foreign observers. While investment to expand TV broadcaster CGTN, China Daily ...

Snapshot: How Chinese Investment in Africa is Shifting

Data by the China-MENA expert Andrea Ghiselli, showing changing Chinese investment patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. Via @AGhiselliChina
A new set of charts compiled by the China-Mideast researcher Andrea Ghiselli provides an intriguing glimpse of how Chinese investment in Sub-Saharan Africa is evolving. The charts are reportedly based on data from ...

Preview: The G7’s China-Global South Problem

A banner advertising this week's G7 summit hangs over a shopping arcade in Hiroshima. Image: Richard A. Brooks / AFP
While China won’t formally attend this week’s G7 summit, starting from Thursday in Japan, it’s likely to dominate the discussions anyway. The bloc (made up of France, the United States, the United Kingdom, ...

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki Kicks Off Four-Day Visit to China, Meeting With Xi Set For This Week

Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang prior to their meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 15, 2023. FLORENCE LO / POOL / AFP
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday, the first day of a near-week-long state visit to Beijing. This is the President’s first visit to China since 2006 and his ...
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