Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi looks to boost ties with Africa on five-nation new year tour

Official will visit Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi and Zimbabwe as Beijing prepares to mark 20 years of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

China and African nations will push for more cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, ministry spokesman says

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins a five-nation visit to Africa on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 5:00pm, 4 Jan 2020Updated: 8:41pm, 17 Feb 2020

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit five African countries next week as Beijing’s steps up its economic and security engagement with the region amid growing criticism that its lending practices are creating debt traps.

The trip to Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi and Zimbabwe from Tuesday will mark China’s preparations for the 20th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) – an initiative that has seen Beijing pour billions of dollars of aid into Africa but also drawn ire from developed nations.

Announcing the trip, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China and African nations would push for cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative – Beijing’s multibillion-dollar plan to link China with Europe and Africa through infrastructure investment.

Wang would be following a long-held tradition that Chinese foreign ministers make Africa their first trip of the year, Geng said, a sign of how highly Beijing regards its ties to the region.

His trip comes as Beijing is on a diplomatic offensive, sending its officials overseas in a bid to convince nations to back its position on the trade war with the United States and its policies on Xinjiang and Hong Kong. The increased interest from world majors like the US and Japan in search of new markets and raw materials in Africa is also pushing Beijing to expand its trade activities on the continent.