China's Xi says no strings attached to funds for Africa

Beijing

Chinese funds are not for “vanity projects” in Africa but are to build infrastructure that can remove development bottlenecks, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday, telling Chinese firms they also had to respect local people and the environment.

Xi said at a business forum before the start of a triennial China Africa summit their friendship was time-honoured and that China’s investment in Africa came with no political strings attached.

“China does not interfere in Africa’s internal affairs and does not impose its own will on Africa. What we value is the sharing of development experience and the support we can offer to Africa’s national rejuvenation and prosperity,” Xi said.

'Debt trap'

“China’s cooperation with Africa is clearly targeted at the major bottlenecks to development. Resources for our cooperation are not to be spent on any vanity projects but in places where they count the most,” he said.

China has denied engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy but Xi is likely to use the gathering of African leaders to offer a new round of financing, following a pledge of $60 billion at the previous summit in South Africa three years ago.

Chinese officials have vowed to be more cautious to ensure projects are sustainable.

China defends continued lending to Africa on the grounds that the continent still needs debt-funded infrastructure development.

Resource extraction

Beijing has also fended off criticism it is only interested in resource extraction to feed its own booming economy, that the projects it funds have poor environmental safeguards, and that too many of the workers for them are flown in from China rather than using African labour.

Xi told business leaders Chinese firms in Africa had to be aware of their social responsibilities and make sure their investments served the community and improved their wellbeing.

“I hope that our entrepreneurs will act to fulfil social responsibilities and respect local culture and tradition,” he said.

“I also hope you will do more in staff training and bettering lives for the local people and will put more emphasis on the environment and resources,” Xi said.