Johannesburg, the largest city of South Africa and an economic center in the region, is getting busier as Chinese President Xi Jinping is here to co-chair a historic summit on China-Africa cooperation with South African President Jacob Zuma from Friday to Saturday.
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South Sudanese president Salva Kiir is in Johannesburg, South Africa to attend a two-day forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which has attracted over 50 African heads of states.
The upcoming summit will inevitably lift the Africa-China relationship to a new height, Zuma said at the banquet, calling on all the leaders to make joint efforts to ensure a successful summit so as to lay a solid foundation for deepening Africa-China cooperation in the future.
Also, China Export Credit Insurance Corp signed a deal with Transnet to provide the South African logistics company $2.5 billion in loans to pay for equipments from Chinese companies.
“These plans are aimed at addressing three issues holding back Africa’s development, namely inadequate infrastructure, lack of professional and skilled personnel, and funding shortage”, he said.
Shinyekwa also proposed that China and African countries work together to set up special economic zones on the continent. One billion renminbi ($156 million, 143 million euro) worth of emergency food aid would, therefore, be provided to the worst-hit countries.
Zambia’s high commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba said President Lungu will be accompanied by ministers of Finance, Alexander Chikwanda; Commerce, Trade and Industry, Margaret Mwanakatwe, and Foreign Affairs, Harry Kalaba.
According to her, the summit represents the hopes and aspirations of people in Africa.
However, the summit comes at a time of slowing growth in China compounded by rising wages that make the world’s second biggest economy less competitive.
Xi said China would strengthen its cooperation with Africa in the fight against violent extremism and would not interfere in the political choices of countries in the continent.
Among them are agreements between the two nuclear operators State Nuclear Power Technology Corp and Necsa as well as a memorandum of understanding between South Africa’s Standard Bank and China’s top ICBC, the BRICS Post reported on Friday.
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Some Africans are wary of strings attached to China’s apparent openhandedness.
