African countries have called on China, Africa’s largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, to shift the focus of the economic relationship from building infrastructure on the continent to supporting local industrialization. “African integration is already escalating and many African countries (have) asked China to consider (a) shift (of) our focus,” the Director-General of China’s Department of African Affairs at its foreign ministry, Wu Peng, stated. Wu also added that the change was needed especially considering the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which was launched at the start of 2021 and is intended to enable African countries to trade tariff-free in future. During his visit to Pretoria, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China firmly supports Africa in promoting its industrialization and agricultural modernization. China’s support for Africa’s industrialization and economic integration was also high on the agenda of the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue on Thursday (24 August).

Source: The North Africa Journal August 24, 2023 12:02 UTC