Qin Gang headed to Africa on Monday, making his first overseas trip as China’s new foreign minister to a region where Beijing and Washington are vying for influence. The former ambassador to the United States will visit Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt on the week-long trip, according to foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. The trip aimed to “deepen the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership and boost friendly cooperation”, Wang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing. He said Qin would visit the African Union Headquarters in Ethiopia and meet Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary general of the Arab League, in Egypt. It has been a long-standing tradition for Chinese foreign ministers to visit Africa at the start of the year in a bid to underline Beijing’s commitment to the region. Qin’s visit follows the first China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last month, at which President Xi Jinping stressed Beijing’s economic commitments to Middle Eastern and North African countries. Dylan Loh, an assistant professor in foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said Qin could bring “fresh impetus” to ties with the continent and he expected Beijing to continue outcompeting the US in the region. In recent years, China has extended its influence in Africa by not only building infrastructure but also providing military support and internet services. US President Joe Biden meanwhile pledged at a high-level summit in Washington last month to be “all in on Africa’s future” and presented the US as “the partner of choice” for African countries. He promised American investment of US$55 billion in Africa over the next three years, with more than US$15 billion in additional private trade and investment commitments and partnerships. “Despite what Biden is saying, I think China’s influence … will endure and the US will find it difficult to outcompete China – especially when Washington seems to be placing a lot of emphasis on the Asia-Pacific,” Loh said. Moritz Weigel, founding director of the China Africa Advisory in Germany, expected Qin – who took over from Wang Yi as foreign minister last month – to stress the importance of China’s relations with African nations. “It is noteworthy that the duration of his trip is longer than that of Wang Yi in previous years,” Weigel said. “We also expect to see announcements on areas in which China and respective partner countries will enhance their cooperation.” He noted that the visit would be important for the African nations and African Union Commission to build a rapport with the new Chinese foreign minister, who could be in the job for the next decade. “The visit is an opportunity to reinvigorate Chinese investments, in particular in renewable energy and industry, now that business travel between China and Africa is becoming easier again due to China’s reopening ,” Weigel said. How the political seeds of China’s growing Africa ties were planted long ago Adhere Cavince, an international relations analyst based in Nairobi, Kenya, said Qin’s previous role as Chinese ambassador to the US would give him “a very good prism to promote China’s relations with Africa in the backdrop of the intensifying geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington”. Cavince said that in resource-rich Angola, China would be looking to solidify its position as the country’s top trade and economic partner. Ethiopia, meanwhile, “could easily leverage Chinese ideas on peace and security as well as comprehensive development to overcome its internal upheavals”. He said visiting the African Union Commission in Ethiopia indicated China’s interest in championing multilateralism, and noted that Chinese contractors would soon finish building the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa. Cavince also noted that Egypt was at an important intersection of Africa and the Arab world and a major voice in both regions. “China is currently ramping up cooperation with the Arab League and Egypt offers Beijing the opportunity to continue with the ongoing constructive dialogue on how to harness development cooperation on both sides of the Red Sea,” he said. China was also the largest trade partner and top investor in Gabon, which is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, he added. Tim Zajontz, a research fellow at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said it was likely that Qin would try to strike a conciliatory tone by calling for cooperation between African nations, China and Western powers. Additional reporting by Jevans Nyabiage