[ad_1]
DAKAR, Senegal – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Africa on Saturday on a four-nation visit seeking deeper military and economic ties with the continent.
in March with term limits removed. That rank familiar to some of Africa's long-entrenched leaders.
China is already Africa's largest trading partner, and it opened its first military base on the continent last year in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, which this month launched in China -backed free trade zone it calls the largest in Africa. After the war in Africa in the United States of America, China this month hosted by the Chinese-African Defense Ministers.
Xi is stopping in Senegal and then Rwanda ahead of his participation in a South African summit of the so-called BRICS emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. That meeting starts on Wednesday.
The summit comes amidst the United States' billion-dollar trade with China and tough trade negotiations with other key economic partners. Last month the BRICS nations criticized what they called "new wave of protectionism," saying U.S. measures undermine global trade and economic growth. President Donald Trump's administration has also been criticized for seeming to show interest in Africa, the world's second-most-populous continent.
Xi's Africa visit also highlights China's sweeping "Belt and Road" initiative that considers linking Beijing to Africa, Europe and other parts of Asia via a network of ports, railways, power plants and economic zones.
While such high-profile projects debt to China. China's government, banks and contractors loaned more than $ 94 billion to African governments and state-owned companies from 2000-15, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.
"Public debt in the median sub-Saharan African country rose from 34 percent of GDP in 2013 to an estimated 53 percent in 2017, "says a report in January by Wenjie Chen and Roger North of the International Monetary Fund.
From oil in countries like Nigeria to rare minerals in Congo Africa's natural resources are a major draw for China's economy. China's voracious appetite for resources such as timber and ivory, however, has taken its toll on Africa's environment.
On his first visit to a West African country, Xi will meet with President Macky Sall of Senegal, which according to the International Monetary The largest number of European Union countries, including the largest European Union, was the largest contributor to the European Union in the first half of the year.
The stop highlights . Already a Chinese-backed industrial park has appeared outside the capital, Dakar, while road and road links are being improved as part of an ambitious plan to reach the other end of the continent in Djibouti
Xi then moves to Rwanda, East African country, which grew by 6.1 percent last year. He will meet with President Paul Kagame and visit a memorial for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which killed more than 800,000 people.
The Chinese leader then will make his third state visit to South Africa for the BRICS summit. South Africa's economy, one of Africa's largest, grew just 1.3 percent last year to form President Jacob Zuma, who resigned in February.
Finally, Xi will stop in the Indian Ocean island Nation of Mauritius, whose economy grew by 3.9 percent last year.
China's economic push continues in September with the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which brings together dozens of heads of state.
Information for this article was submitted by Ignatius Ssuuna and Christopher Torchia of the Associated Press.
A Section on 07/22/2018
[ad_2]
Source link
