China President Xi Jinping rocked the rostrum by pledging to finance a deafening $60 billion package for Africa in the form of government assistance as well as aids, investments, and loans.
In his keynote speech, he further divulged that the financing has already been either delivered or arranged.
Chinese funding will include $15 billion of grants and interest-free and concessional loans, $20 billion of credit lines, $10 billion special fund for development financing and a $5 billion special fund for financing imports from Africa.
The financial suite was announced at his maiden address at Beijing Summit 2018 of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China has honored its 2015 promise to provide funding support of $60 billion, Xi said.
China has been the largest trade partner of Africa for the last nine consecutive years. From 2000 to 2017, the total trade between the two has surged by 17 times. In 2017, the trade between China and Africa increased by 14%, to $170 billion.
In the first half of the 2018, the trade fastened and grew by 16%, to $100 billion. China’s investments in Africa also increased by over 100% in the last 17 years. In the past three years, China’s investments in Africa averaged $3 billion.
Chinese commitment to provide the funding support followed the implementation of ten China-Africa cooperation plans, adopted in 2015 Johannesburg Summit
The ten cooperation plans were in the areas of industrialization, agriculture modernization, infrastructure, financial services, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security.
According to preliminary estimates, Chinese projects completed and underway under these cooperation plans are expected to bring the continent 30,000 km of highways, 85 million tons per year of harbor capacity, over 9 million tons per day of water-cleaning capacity, and about 20,000 Megawatt of power generation capacity and creating 900,000 domestic jobs.
The ten cooperation plans have brought huge benefits to the people of China and Africa. They have fully demonstrated the creativity, rallying power and efficiency of China and Africa, and lifted China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to the new heights, Xi maintained.
Since the Johannesburg Summit, China has fully implemented the ten cooperation plans, with a large number of railway, highway, airport, port, and other infrastructure projects as well as a number of economic and trade zones built or under-construction, Xi noted.
Xi underscored that China-Africa cooperation on peace and security, science, education, culture, health, poverty reduction, people’s welfare, and people-to-people exchanges has deepened.
In his keynote speech, he further divulged that the financing has already been either delivered or arranged.
Chinese funding will include $15 billion of grants and interest-free and concessional loans, $20 billion of credit lines, $10 billion special fund for development financing and a $5 billion special fund for financing imports from Africa.
The financial suite was announced at his maiden address at Beijing Summit 2018 of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China has honored its 2015 promise to provide funding support of $60 billion, Xi said.
China has been the largest trade partner of Africa for the last nine consecutive years. From 2000 to 2017, the total trade between the two has surged by 17 times. In 2017, the trade between China and Africa increased by 14%, to $170 billion.
In the first half of the 2018, the trade fastened and grew by 16%, to $100 billion. China’s investments in Africa also increased by over 100% in the last 17 years. In the past three years, China’s investments in Africa averaged $3 billion.
Chinese commitment to provide the funding support followed the implementation of ten China-Africa cooperation plans, adopted in 2015 Johannesburg Summit
The ten cooperation plans were in the areas of industrialization, agriculture modernization, infrastructure, financial services, green development, trade and investment facilitation, poverty reduction and public welfare, public health, people-to-people exchanges, and peace and security.
According to preliminary estimates, Chinese projects completed and underway under these cooperation plans are expected to bring the continent 30,000 km of highways, 85 million tons per year of harbor capacity, over 9 million tons per day of water-cleaning capacity, and about 20,000 Megawatt of power generation capacity and creating 900,000 domestic jobs.
The ten cooperation plans have brought huge benefits to the people of China and Africa. They have fully demonstrated the creativity, rallying power and efficiency of China and Africa, and lifted China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to the new heights, Xi maintained.
Since the Johannesburg Summit, China has fully implemented the ten cooperation plans, with a large number of railway, highway, airport, port, and other infrastructure projects as well as a number of economic and trade zones built or under-construction, Xi noted.
Xi underscored that China-Africa cooperation on peace and security, science, education, culture, health, poverty reduction, people’s welfare, and people-to-people exchanges has deepened.