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China stumps up another $83bn to Africa
President Xi Jinping has promised to double China’s financial assistance to Africa, pledging another $US60 billion ($83bn) in grants, loans and investment to the region at the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.


Mr Xi’s latest pledge was announced in a keynote speech to the forum in Beijing, which was attended by more than 50 African leaders. It follows $US60bn offered at the last forum three years ago in Johannesburg.
The deal outlined by Mr Xi this week is further evidence that China is keen to boost its ties and influence with Africa at a time when it is under pressure from US President Donald Trump’s trade war and criticisms of its global security intentions
The new package includes, $US15bn in grants, $US20bn in lines of credit, a $US10 billion fund for development financing and $US5bn to help finance exports from Africa to China.
Announcing the offer, Mr Xi said the financing would include assistance from the Chinese government as well as investment and funding by institutions and companies.
He said China would also agree to waive the debt of some of the poorest countries in Africa.
In his speech, Mr Xi rejected criticisms about the effect of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative on the continent, saying China was not pursuing “political self interest” with its investments in Africa.
He said China had no plans to interfere in the internal affairs of African nations and there would no political strings attached to its financial assistance.
“Only the people of China and Africa have the right to comment on whether China-Africa co-operation is doing well,” he said.
“No one should deny the significant achievement of China-Africa co-operation based on their assumptions and speculation.”
He said China, with its 1.3 billion people, and Africa, with its 1.2 billion people, were working together for a shared future.

Africa’s development had great potential and the continent was “full of hope”. “No one can hold back the Chinese or African people as we march toward rejuvenation,” Mr Xi said.
China has staked out a critical role in the development of Africa with a concerted campaign of aid, investments and big-ticket infrastructure projects as well as a growing security interest.
It has been Africa’s largest trading partner for the last nine years, with a two-way trade worth about $US170bn.
China’s People’s Liberation Army opened its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, last year.
Some of the big infrastructure projects, conducted under the BRI flag, have been criticised for leaving the host countries saddled with large debts.
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa told the forum that Beijing was not exploiting African countries, but said both sides should aim towards moving to a more balanced relationship.
He said this week’s forum “refutes the view that a new colonialism is taking hold in Africa as our detractors would have us believe”.
The reference to new colonialism echoed a comment made last month by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad when he visited Beijing, warning that developing countries that borrowed too heavily from overseas lenders could find themselves at risk of a “new colonialism”.
“It is through platforms like this that we should work to balance the structure of trade between Africa and China,” Mr Ramaphosa said.
The latest Chinese offer of assistance also will include the establishment of a China-Africa peace and security fund and will also involve more military aid from China for the region.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Africa’s growing ties with China did “not come at anyone’s expense”. “Africa is not a zero-sum game,” he said.
He said a stronger Africa would create more investment opportunities and was not a “problem or a threat”.