China courts African allies as tensions with Europe, US deepen
China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, is on a week-long trip to visit four countries in Africa, at a time of growing tensions between Beijing and the European Union, and an uncertain future for China-US relations on the eve of the second Trump presidency.
Maintaining a 35-year tradition which sees China's top diplomat visit Africa on the first overseas trip of the year, Wang Yi – who is also a member of the all-powerful Standing Committee of China's Communist Party – will this week visit Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad and Nigeria.
"This is a pillar of the relationship between China and Africa," said Eric Olander, CEO of the China-Global South Project, an NGO which monitors China's relations with the African continent. "It is surprising that other countries like the United States, France, the UK, and others have not emulated this tradition, because it's so easy and it is so effective."
Beijing is also anxiously awaiting the upcoming second US presidency of Donald Trump.
The US has imposed 100 percent tariffs on some Chinese products, while Trump fulminates against US companies that have outsourced their operations to the country, criticising the massive China-US trade deficit and claiming repeatedly that China is "ripping off" the US.
Beijing's Africa trips, however, are primarily based on continental geography, rather than targeting specific countries.
Read more on RFI English
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