Rajpriya Gautam

Attendees at next week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Africa’s largest mining conference that gets underway on Monday, say they’re expecting a new sense of urgency from U.S. and European stakeholders who are keen to find ways of breaking China’s grip on critical resources like cobalt and lithium. Tony Caroll, a Mining Indaba organizer and director of Acorus Capital, summarized the mood in a sharply-worded column  published this week in South Africa’s Daily Maverick newspaper:  “With the Biden administration and the EU now investing political capital in the success of domestic green energy firms, Africa has never been so economically essential to the West.” Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... ...

Huawei may be under mounting pressure in the United States, where the government will reportedly expand sanctions against the Chinese tech giant to block all American technology transfers, but in South Africa, it’s a totally different story. On the same day that the sanctions news made headlines, Huawei on Monday announced the launch of its new Mate 50 high-end smartphone in the SA market but it was the debut of its new backup home battery solution that generated a lot more buzz. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post G...

Sri Lanka’s desperately-needed financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund may be in jeopardy  due to an insufficient debt restructuring offer from China , Colombo’s largest bilateral creditor. The IMF is requiring that Sri Lanka first receive assurances from its largest bilateral creditors, namely China, India and Japan, to restructure its outstanding debt. While India and Japan both did so unconditionally, China last week came forward with a somewhat reduced offer that  sources tell Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper will not be enough to satisfy the IMF. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR ...

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar accused rivals of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of  intentionally spreading false information about the government’s handling of the border disputes with China. Jaishankar refuted comments  made by Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi  that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ceded 100 square kilometers of Indian territory to China. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Indian FM Accuses Opposition Leader of Intentionally Spreading False Information About Ch...

The European Union’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell is the latest foreign dignitary to pass through Pretoria in what appears to be a vain effort to persuade South Africa’s international relations minister Naledi Pandor to reconsider Pretoria’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and  upcoming joint naval exercises with both Russia and China. Borrell was in town last week for the European Union Ministerial Political Dialogue with South Africa that wrapped up on Friday. Shortly before he left,  Borrell held a joint press conference with Pandor  and said the timing of the upcoming joint naval exercises is unfortunate: Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s h...

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned that the South American Common Market known as Mercosur is in jeopardy if Uruguay signs a free trade agreement with China.  Viera told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that if Chinese goods enter the common market via Uruguay, it would “destroy” Mercosur. The bloc’s other partners, Paraguay, and Argentina have also called on Uruguay to halt bilateral talks with China and negotiate a collective deal.  (MERCOPRESS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to conduct a massive military exercise in the northeast along its disputed border with China.  The IAF said Exercise Pralay would take place this week but did not specify when. The drills will involve all of its bases in the region and will include drones, Rafale and SU-30 fighter jets along with S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries. The drills come amid escalating tensions between the two Asian powers over their contested border in the Himalayas. (HINDUSTAN TIMES) Get a da...

Two U.S. cabinet secretaries are currently touring Africa to fulfill President Joe Biden’s promise that the United States is  “all in”  when it comes to bolstering ties with countries across the continent. A key part of the message that  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen  and  Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield  are telling their hosts is that the United States is a better,  more reliable partner than China for Africa’s long-term development. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More...

Chinese ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo stopped by the Defense Ministry in Kinshasa this week to say goodbye to Minister Gilbert Kabanda.  Zhu also left a parting gift of $27 million of security assistance for the Congolese military. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Ambassador to the DR Congo to Leave <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g transform="tra...

Three years after Chinese contractors  broke ground to build the new Central African Cultural and Arts Center in the DR Congo capital of Kinshasa , the 36,000-square-meter development is now taking shape. Outgoing Chinese ambassador to the DRC, Zhu Jing,  posted an update on Twitter  about the complex’s construction that when finished will have a 2,000-seat main theater along with an 800-seat rehearsal hall. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Massive New Chinese-financed Cultural Center Takes Shap...

China is on the verge of displacing Germany to become the world’s second-largest auto exporting nation (Japan is #1). This is a remarkable accomplishment given the speed that China’s automakers have gained international market share, tripling sales to 2.5 million units since 2020. This trend is likely to accelerate quickly in the next few years as Chinese automakers leverage their advantage in electric vehicle manufacturing to roll into new markets around the world, particularly in the Global South. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn ...

The Chinese embassy in Lusaka  clapped back at § for her remarks that  Beijing was acting as a “barrier” in Zambia’s drawn-out debt restructuring process . In a sharply worded statement posted on its website Tuesday , the embassy said Yellen is in no position to lecture China on debt issues given Washington’s “catastrophic debt problem” including a potential default on its $31.4 trillion debt if the House of Representatives does not increase the country’s borrowing limit. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The...

Chinese President Xi Jinping  addressed the final day of a leaders summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires on Tuesday , where he renewed calls for closer coordination among developing countries and improved South-South cooperation. The President’s speech didn’t include any policy announcements or much of anything new. But it was notable that he was invited to address the gathering by the host, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández, who has emerged as one of Beijing’s most ardent defenders. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Sa...

Prior to his retirement last year, the top commander for U.S. forces in Africa, General Stephen Townsend, was among the most vocal Pentagon officials  on the perceived threat posed by China to U.S. interests abroad.  General Townsend’s replacement, Michael E. Langley , has been noticeably quiet on the issue, as the Pentagon’s concerns about China in the Global South have shifted, at least publicly, from Africa to the Americas. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Washington’s Top Commander for U.S. Force...

By Rebecca Ray After providing a staggering amount of finance for overseas development projects in the wake of the global financial crisis, Chinese overseas development finance has been on a general downward trend for several years. New data shows the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 are no exception. The China’s Overseas Development Finance (CODF) Database , managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, recorded 28 new loan commitments in 2020 and 2021 worth a combined value of $10.5 billion, the lowest in recent years. A new  policy brief  shares insights on the state of China’s overseas development finance from 2008-2021 and how borrowers, sectors and loan types have changed over the years, especially compared to the World Bank. Key Findings From the Global Development Policy Center’s Latest Research on Chinese Overseas Development Financing: TOTAL # OF LOAN COMMITMENTS:  The CODF Database records a total of 1,099 Chinese overseas development ...

The South African government is coming under intense criticism for welcoming Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and for next month’s joint naval exercises with both Russia and China. SA Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor dismissed the criticism on Monday at a press conference with Lavrov when she said such exercises with “friends” are part of the “natural course of relations.” Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Lavrov Visit and Upcoming Joint Naval Exercises With China Spark Anger in South Africa <div class=...

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s long-held ambition to export oil via the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)  will move closer to reality on Tuesday when he commissions the country’s first new drilling site in Lake Albert. The President will inaugurate the Kingfisher drilling rig operated by the Chinese state-owned oil services giant CNOOC. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Uganda to Become Africa’s Newest Oil Exporting Country With Inauguration of New Chinese-operated Drilling in Lake Albe...

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari  officially opened West Africa’s largest port facility on Tuesday  when he commissioned the new Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos State. The opening coincided with the docking of the first cargo vessel, the French-flagged CMA CGM Mozart , to mark the beginning of operations at West Africa’s largest and most sophisticated port facility. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Buhari Commissions Port of Lekki, One of China’s Most Consequential Infrastructure Projects in Africa ...

The producers of this year’s Spring Gala television variety show in China appear to have learned from recent scandals around Chinese actors in blackface appearing in the hugely popular annual Lunar New Year program. Instead,  Tanzanian singer Coronia Kila performed on stage with a Chinese band and backup singers in front of an audience of more than 700 million people. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post No Blackface in This Year’s Spring Gala TV Show, Actual Africans Performed Instead <div class="cap-padlock...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will leave Tuesday on an 11-day, three-nation tour of Africa that Biden administration officials say is intended to rejuvenate ties on the continent and counter Chinese influence.  Yellen will visit South Africa, Senegal, and Zambia, where debt issues are expected to feature prominently on her agenda. Previously, Yellen has said China is the biggest obstacle to progress in resolving debt crises.  (BLOOMBERG) The Indonesian navy deployed a warship, surveillance aircraft, and drones to its resource-rich North Natuna Sea to monitor a Chinese coast guard vessel that’s been in its exclusive economic zone for the past two weeks.  Indonesia’s navy chief said on Saturday that the Chinese vessel isn’t behaving suspiciously but that his forces are keeping a close watch just in case.  (REUTERS) Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Afr...

The Democratic Republic of Congo could be closer to overhauling two controversial Chinese deals.  Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi told Reuters  the government is in active talks with Sicomines, a joint venture between the DRC’s state mining company Gécamines, and Sinohydro and China Railway Group, who were supposed to build infrastructure in exchange for a 68% stake in a mining venture: “We have already a framework, we have some key elements of change that we want to bring in that agreement,” Kazadi said, though he declined to provide further details. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17...

As China’s decades-long focus on South-South cooperation results in strong relationships throughout the developing world, Global North powers like the United States and Japan are suddenly discovering their concern for the Global South in order to shore up their own fading influence. This is the main argument of  a tart opinion column  by Xiang Haoyu, a guest researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, China Academy of International Studies in Huanqiu, the Chinese-language version of Global Times. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click...

There’s an emerging consensus in U.S. national security circles that  bolstering ties with India will be the best way to confront China’s surging influence in the Asia-Pacific region. But if that is the case, then it appears U.S. stakeholders have some work to do to improve their standing with the Indian public, who see Washington as a major military threat to the country, second only to China. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post It Won’t Come as a Surprise That Indians Are Skeptical of China, But New Poll Reveal...

One of China’s leading India scholars, Liu Zongyi, a senior fellow at the prestigious Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), outlined a grim vision for the future of Sino-Indian relations, warning that they’ll be contentious, competitive and even confrontational. Liu’s outlook is important given his prominence within SIIS, one of China’s leading think tanks that regularly advises senior foreign policy stakeholders in Beijing.  Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Ties With India Will be Compe...

Production is up and running again at a Chinese-owned nickel smelting plant in Indonesia following  last week’s violent uprising by laborers over poor working conditions . Two people, one Chinese and one Indonesian, were killed during the riot. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Chinese Social Media’s Unusual Response to the Indonesian Labor Riots <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g t...

He Wenping, the Program Director at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of West-Asian and African Studies and one of China’s most prominent Africa experts, laid into U.S. and European efforts in Africa. In an interview in the magazine Guancha, she reflected on Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s recent visit to the continent and framed China’s approach there as championing African leadership in the face of Euro-American meddling: Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post U.S., Europe Backseat Drivers in Africa: Exper...

M Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Fun Fact: China’s Unexpected Corn Boom <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /><g transform="translate(-132.5,-10)"><g ><g ><g ><path fill="#c5c5c5" d="M 745,412.9 V 255 C 745,119.9 635.1,10 500,10 364.9,10 255,119.9 255,255 V 412.9 H 377.5 V 255 c 0,-67.6 54.9,-122.5 122.5,-122.5 67.5,0 122.5,54.9 122.5...

China’s trade with countries in Africa broke a new record in 2022 at $282 billion, up 11% from last year’s $254 billion in two-way trade.  The data reaffirms China’s position as the continent’s largest bilateral trading partner and shows it’s solidly on the path to displacing the European Union as Africa’s largest regional trade partner (last year the EU did $312 billion of trade with Africa). Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Decoding China’s Record-Breaking 2022 Trade With Africa <div class="cap-padlock...

Add Gabon’s Senate, known as Omar Bongo Ondimba Palace, to the long and growing list of African government buildings  that will either be renovated or newly built using Chinese money and contractors. Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang alongside his Gabonese counterpart Michaël Moussa Adamo  oversaw a signing ceremony last Thursday for the project that is set to begin “as soon as possible.” Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post China’s Building Diplomacy in Africa Shows No Signs of Slowing in 2023 ...

There wasn’t much media coverage or online discussion in China about Qin Gang’s week-long visit to Africa that ended Sunday in Cairo, especially compared to previous years when the visit was widely touted on Party-controlled media outlets. Interest was probably diminished this year due to the timing of the visit, which coincided with China’s re-opening following three years of COVID restrictions and the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday that will come sooner this year. Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis. Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations. Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South. China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening. Subscribe today for unlimited access. Monthly $15/mo OR Yearly $149/yr (17% Savings) Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More The post Chinese Schola...