Xi’s trip to strengthen China-Africa economic and trade relations: official

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to several African countries will further strengthen the economic and trade relations between China and Africa, Chinese officials said.

In the first foreign trip of his second term as the Chinese president, Xi is scheduled to pay state visits to Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa, after a state visit to the United Arab Emirates. Xi will also pay a “friendly visit” to Mauritius during the trip.

“We believe diplomacy by the head of state will certainly play a strategically leading role in promoting pragmatic economic and trade cooperation,” Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, told a press briefing on Thursday.

Gao noted that China has maintained great economic and trade relations with the host countries of the visits and Xi’s trip will further lift bilateral ties to much higher levels.

Chinese officials said last week that during the trip, Xi will sign a slew of agreements with the host countries on cooperation in a wide range of sectors, according to a report by chinanews.com.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said that the president’s trip will further deepen political trust and mutual development between China and Africa, the report said.

Chinese officials have also been pushing back claims that cooperation between China and Africa has increased debt burdens on some countries.

In an article published by Nigerian newspaper the Daily Trust on Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Zhou Pingjian said that China has never attached any “political conditions” for cooperation with African countries and always seeks win-win opportunities.