BEIJING, Sept 5 – China’s President Xi Jinping Thursday pledged more than US$50 billion in funding to the African continent, and announced elevating ties with all member nations to “strategic level.”
The Chinese government “will provide RMB360 billion yuan (US$50.7 billion) of financial support through the next three years” to African nations, Xi told the 9th Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.
Beijing is hosting the largest diplomatic gathering with leaders and representatives of nearly 53 African nations attending the three-day summit which began Wednesday.
Xi boasted China’s relations with African nations were “now at its best in history”, Anadolu Agency reported.
“With its future growth in mind,” Xi told the summit, “I propose that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations.”
Referring to the pledges of new funding, the Chinese leader said more than half of US$50 billion will be in credit while nearly US$11 billion will be given in various types of grants.
It also includes US$10 billion investments through Chinese firms, said the 71-year-old Xi.
