Rajpriya Gautam

Two of Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditors, China and India, are finally taking steps to engage Colombo after months of inaction in resolving the South Asian country’s worsening debt crisis. The Chinese led the charge. Chen Zhou, vice minister of the international development of the Chinese Communist Party,  embarked on a four-day visit Saturday . Then on Thursday, the day after Chen leaves,  India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrives for two days of talks. 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 pos...

BBC Economics Editor Ben Chu returned to Colombo recently to report on Sri Lanka’s fraught position in the middle of India and China’s increasingly bitter feud and what the implications are for the island’s badly-needed debt restructuring process. Watch Ben Chu’s full report on the BBC’s YouTube channel. 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 VIDEO WORTH WATCHING <div class="cap-padlock"> <svg version="1.1" xml:space="preserve" viewBox="0 0 735 980" > <defs /...

China is pushing for a free trade agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc or any of its individual members (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.)  The recent election in Brazil could be a game changer, with rumors that trade talks could be on the agenda of incoming President Lula da Silva’s upcoming Beijing visit.  (MERCOPRESS) Ghana is poised to seek debt relief under the G20’s controversial Common Framework initiative and, if approved, would become only the fourth country to do so.   After watching the slow debt restructuring process in both Zambia and Sri Lanka, Accra wants assurances from Paris Club creditors that negotiations would be expedited. Ghana recently defaulted on payments of its $28 billion debt, $1.7 billion of which is owed to Chinese creditors.  (REUTERS) 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...

Job creation is one of the most important issues in Africa-China relations. Two fascinating recent research articles give different takes on how engagement with China affects African development. The first focuses on the controversial issue of the importation of Chinese workers for infrastructure projects. It draws on data from 195 countries to compare levels of local hiring, with a focus on Ghana and Algeria. The second compares the impact of cheap Chinese imported goods on male and female employment rates in Ethiopia. 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 ...

A recent MoU between China and Turkmenistan means that the whole of Central Asia is now part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This point was made  during a briefing  by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. The symbolism of completing the Central Asian portion of the BRI is key, considering that it was first announced in Kazakhstan in 2013. WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT?:  The consolidation of the BRI arguably shows that China is slowly displacing Russia as the key partner to the region. 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 Lea...

A group of 30 scholars from 14 Islamic countries is participating in a highly choreographed tour of China’s western Xinjiang region as part of Beijing’s latest efforts to push back against well-documented U.S. and European accusations of human rights violations there. Chinese officials are touting their success in preventing “terrorism and extremism” in Xinjiang , a message that resonates with many of the participants on the tour who come from countries that have to contend with religious violence, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. 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) ...

Qin Gang is taking over  as Foreign Minister at an inflection point in Africa-China relations. While Chinese investment transformed African skylines, the relationship has also hit some problems. These include sky-high debt for projects that didn’t necessarily deliver hoped-for development outcomes. But how should Beijing tweak its Africa policy for better outcomes? Ken Opalo, an Africa-China expert and an assistant professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, recently posted a  fascinating set of suggestions  to reset Africa-China relations in his newsletter, An Africanist Perspective: 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 toda...