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China Sends Pointed Message with South China Sea Flag-Raising

The Chinese Coast Guard held a flag-raising ceremony to mark China’s National Day off the Scarborough Shoal, a zone in the South China Sea also claimed by the Philippines. The ceremony, which was broadcast on the state TV channel CCTV and social media, seemed designed to ...

Rwandan Singers Strike a Chord on Chinese Social Media

A young Rwandan man and his group of compatriot singers have gone viral in China with short videos showing them performing well-known songs in near-perfect Mandarin. The group, led by Pacifique Izabayo, who goes by the online name Bobo, performs ...

Burundi’s “Banana Riders” Go Viral on Chinese Social Media, Triggering Memories of China’s Own Development Journey

Eric, a young Burundian, barrels down a mountain at 70km an hour with more than 200 kilos of bananas strapped to his rickety bicycle in what looks like an absolutely terrifying race to the bottom. Eric and his fellow "banana riders" ...

Ugandan Food Vlogger in Rural China Becomes Unlikely Social Media Star

30-year Ugandan immigrant Rose is now a full-fledged social media star on China's TikTok equivalent Douyin. Now, with more than a million followers and almost 200 million likes, Rose (who doesn't reveal her last name) has become one of China's most popular food vloggers. ...

TRANSLATION: Please Stop Now! Stop Exploiting African Children!!!

"Africa Bob" (波布非洲) is a popular Chinese commentator and content creator about African issues on WeChat. The following is a summary translation of his post that reflects on the controversy about the exploitation of African (Malawi) children used to produce short form videos by Chinese merchants. ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

A Chinese Appeal For Compatriots Not to Abuse Local Workers in Africa

Earlier this year, the head of security at a Chinese company in Zimbabwe posted videos to his Douyin account (the Chinese equivalent of TikTok) that showed him beating and illegally detaining local workers, according to a story published this week on the Zimbabwe Chinese Network (ZCN) WeChat page. ...

A Small African Trade Show in China Highlights Some Very Big Trends

The "Quality African Goods" (非洲好物) shopping festival kicked off on Thursday as part of a larger two-week e-commerce bonanza organized by a group of provincial governments together with China's Ministry of Commerce. The African portion of the event is relatively small ...

The Back Story of China’s Most Popular Vlogger in Africa

Wang Yao had lived in East Africa for more than a decade and became increasingly frustrated with the way that Africa was depicted in the Chinese media. When he searched for "Africa" on search engines or social video sites, all he got were the usual memes about ...

Meet Wang Yao, Entrepreneur, Vlogger, and a Guy Who Looks Like He’s Living His Best Life in Kenya

Wang Yao 王垚 is a truly unique character who's not only built a hugely successful second-hand clothing business in Kenya but has also become a celebrity on Chinese social media platforms where he now has almost 5 million followers. Wang first came ...