President Mnangagwa poses for a photograph with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, yesterday. — (Picture by Presidential Photographer Joseph Nyadzayo)

Tawanda Musarurwa and Fatima Bulla in BEIJING, China

 The 2018 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) was officially opened here yesterday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping pledging $60 billion in financing for Africa.

The money is expected to fully foster the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, bringing the total amount pledged to the continent by the Asian giant to $120 billion since 2015.

At the 2015 Johannesburg Summit, President Xi made a $60 billion pledge in loans to African countries.

“The financing will be provided in the form of government assistance as well as investment and financing by financial institutions and companies,” President Xi said in his keynote address.

The financing includes $15 billion of grants, interest-free loans and concessionary loans, $20 billion of credit lines, the setting up of a $10 billion special fund for development financing and a $5 billion special fund for financing imports from Africa.

Chinese companies were also encouraged to make at least $10 billion investments in Africa in the next three years.

The Chinese President announced eight major areas of collaboration in the coming years.

These include launching an industrial promotion initiative through the China Africa Economic Expo in Africa to build and upgrade economic trade zones and agricultural modernisation.

In that regard, there are 50 agricultural programmes to be implemented, and a $1 billion emergency aid programme.

The agricultural programmes will see 500 senior agriculture experts being sent to Africa to train young researchers.

The second collaboration will be the launch of the Infrastructure Connectivity, which will drive key connectivity projects.

This will also support Chinese companies investing in infrastructure in Africa.

The Trade Facilitation Initiative is the third area of collaboration, which aims to increase imports of non-resource products from Africa.

The fourth one is the Green Development Initiative aimed at environmental protection, issues of climate change and wildlife protection.

Capacity-building is the fifth initiative which entails a plan to set up a China-Africa Innovation Centre. Under the same initiative, 50 000 government scholarships and 50 000 seminars and workshops will be hosted.

The healthcare initiative is aimed at upgrading healthcare services.

There are plans to build China-Africa Friendship Hospitals and the training of more medical specialists.

The seventh initiative, the people-to-people exchange programme, will see China establish an institute of African Studies among other issues.

The Peace and Security Initiative is the final initiative, which will see the setting up of the China-Africa Peace and Security Fund for peacekeeping, law and order.

“In order to achieve this, China will extend $60 billion which will include $15 billion grants, interest and concessionary loans, $20 billion in credit lines, $10 billion for setting up of a special fund, and then 45 billion for financing imports from Africa, and $10 billion for companies in China to invest in Africa in the next three years,” said President Xi.

In addition he said debt incurred by poor African countries due to mature by 2018 will be exempted.

The exemption will be granted to Africa’s least developed countries, heavily indebted and poor countries, landlocked and small island developing countries that have diplomatic relations with China.

African Union (AU) chairperson Rwandan President Paul Kagame said China’s actions demonstrated and showed the way in what is lost in not engaging and partnering with Africa.

“The China-Africa partnership has grown and is aligned with the AU’s Agenda 2063. It’s time for Africa to improve project management and increase participation in the private sector. We have to articulate the continent’s priorities, with focus to connectivity to the global world.

“The reformed AU will be more effective going forward. Growing ties with China don’t come at anyone’s expense, the gains are enjoyed by everyone who does business in our continent. We should strive to improve performance, tackling issues in a fair manner. Respect does not concern one side only but all of us. I salute President Xi’s personal engagement since taking office, he has visited every region of the continent including countries of every size and economic profile,” he said.

Co-chair of the FOCAC 2018 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the relationship between China and Africa was premised on principles of equality, trust, mutual respect and benefit.

He said FOCAC had grown since 2000 and the progress made demonstrated the tangibles of the partnership.

“The relationship between China and Africa is forged on the fundamental rights of Africa to determine its future and is premised on Agenda 2063. We are working towards and Africa of good governance, democracy, justice, rule of law and respect of human rights,” he said.

Indications from FOCAC 2018 are that the China-Africa partnership has broad vistas, and China and Africa can forge an even stronger comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership.</s>Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-06 00:26:10|Editor: Liangyu

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Wang Huning (R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, meets with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 5, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Wang Huning on Wednesday met with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe after the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Sept. 3-4.

Wang, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said China stands ready to work with Togo to implement the outcomes of the summit, align the Belt and Road Initiative with Togo's vision to become an emerging country in 2030, and expand pragmatic cooperation to benefit the peoples of the two countries.

Faure Gnassingbe congratulated China on the success of the Beijing summit which signified the strong friendship between Africa and China. He said the negative comments concerning the Africa-China cooperation are unacceptable in Africa.

He expressed Togo's willingness to work with China to implement the outcomes of the summit and advance the bilateral relations and Africa-China friendship.</s>Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Wang Huning on Wednesday met with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe after the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Sept. 3-4.

Wang, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said China stands ready to work with Togo to implement the outcomes of the summit, align the Belt and Road Initiative with Togo's vision to become an emerging country in 2030, and expand pragmatic cooperation to benefit the peoples of the two countries.

Faure Gnassingbe congratulated China on the success of the Beijing summit which signified the strong friendship between Africa and China. He said the negative comments concerning the Africa-China cooperation are unacceptable in Africa.

He expressed Togo's willingness to work with China to implement the outcomes of the summit and advance the bilateral relations and Africa-China friendship.</s>Beijing, Sep 6: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Pakistan Friday to hold talks with the country's new leadership to consolidate cooperation and elevate the all-weather bilateral strategic partnership.

This is the first high-level visit by a Chinese official to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. The visit by Wang, who is also designated as the State Councillor which makes him the top diplomat of China, comes two days after that of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo met new Prime Minister Khan and pressed him to take "sustained and decisive measures" against terrorists threatening the regional peace and stability. Announcing Wang’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the media that besides holding talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he would also meet top leaders of the new Pakistan government and exchange views on bilateral ties, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

"This is the first high-level visit between the two sides after the establishment of the new government in Pakistan. We hope that through the visit the two sides could consolidate our traditional friendship, all-round cooperation and elevate China-Pakistan all-weather strategic and cooperative partnership," she said when asked about China’s expectations from the visit from September 7-9.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic and cooperative partners. We are good neighbours, good friends and good brothers. Our bilateral ties have been developing with sound momentum. We have frequent high-level exchanges, practical cooperation moving forward and rich outcomes from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Pakistan's newly-elected President Arif Alvi, saying the strategic significance of the bilateral ties is "more prominent under the current circumstances" and both sides should support each other "more staunchly".

Wang’s visit also comes amidst reports of unease in Beijing over how the new PTI government would approach over USD 50 billion Chinese investments in various projects under the CPEC connecting China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan. Khan in the past criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lack of transparency and corruption in the CPEC projects.

Newly-appointed Finance Minister Asad Umar has promised to bring about transparency to the CPEC projects whose details remained closely guarded secrets. India has protested to China over the CPEC, which is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).</s>The merger, if it went ahead, would see state-controlled China Unicom merged with China Telecom, creating a combined carrier with a market capitalisation of over $70 billion (54.5 billion pounds). The new firm would still lag behind larger peer China Mobile.

China is pushing to rival the United States in an arms race to dominate the next-generation 5G mobile networks, a technology seen as strategically important in both Beijing and Washington, especially amid increasing global trade tensions.

China Unicom, formally known as China United Network Communications, said it was not aware of the situation, in response to the report of a possible merger.

China Telecom referred to their response to questions about a merger at the company's recent interim results briefing, where the firm said it had not been notified of any such plans.

Bloomberg reported that the country's top leaders are reviewing a proposal to combine China United Network Communications Group Co (China Unicom) and China Telecommunications Corp, adding that no decision has been made and that a merger may not happen. https://bloom.bg/2MO3Kps

The two carriers between them have close to 600 million mobile subscribers as of July this year.

China Unicom and China Telecom shares jumped on Tuesday after reports of the merger. There has been speculation about the two companies being combined for several years.</s>Sept 6 (Reuters) - Beijing expressed anger on Thursday after a British Royal Navy warship sailed close to islands claimed by China in the South China Sea late last month, saying Britain was engaged in "provocation" and that it had lodged a strong complaint.

The HMS Albion, a 22,000 ton amphibious warship carrying a contingent of Royal Marines, exercised its "freedom of navigation" rights as it passed near the Paracel Islands, two sources, who were familiar with the matter but who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The Albion was on its way to Ho Chi Minh City, where it docked on Monday following a deployment in and around Japan.

One of the sources said Beijing dispatched a frigate and two helicopters to challenge the British vessel, but both sides remained calm during the encounter.

The other source the Albion did not enter the territorial seas around any features in the hotly disputed region but demonstrated that Britain does not recognise excessive maritime claims around the Paracel Islands. Twelve nautical miles is an internationally recognised territorial limit.

The Paracels are occupied entirely by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

China's Foreign Ministry, in a faxed statement sent to Reuters, said the ship had entered Chinese territorial waters around the Paracel Islands on Aug. 31 without permission, and the Chinese navy had warned it to leave.

"The relevant actions by the British ship violated Chinese law and relevant international law, and infringed on China's sovereignty. China strongly opposes this and has lodged stern representations with the British side to express strong dissatisfaction," the ministry added.

"China strongly urges the British side to immediately stop such provocative actions, to avoid harming the broader picture of bilateral relations and regional peace and stability," it said.

"China will continue to take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and security."

The encounter comes at a delicate time in London-Beijing relations.

Britain has been courting China for a post-Brexit free trade deal, and both countries like to describe how they have a "golden era" in ties.

A spokesman for the Royal Navy said: "HMS Albion exercised her rights for freedom of navigation in full compliance with international law and norms."

China's claims in the South China Sea, through which some $3 trillion of shipborne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Britain does not have any territorial claims in the area.

While the U.S. Navy has conducted Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the same area in the past, this British challenge to China's growing control of the strategic waterway comes after the United States has said it would like to see more international participation in such actions.

Both Britain and the United States say they conduct FONOP operations throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies.

The British Navy has previously sailed close to the disputed Spratly Islands, further south in the South China Sea, several times in recent years but not within the 12 nautical mile limit, regional diplomatic sources have said.

Singapore-based South China Sea expert Ian Storey said Britain had strong traditional interests in defending freedom of navigation but regular deployments in the South China Sea would be constrained due to limited numbers of warships and onerous demands in other parts of the world.

"The UK´s actions will please Washington as the Trump administration has grumbled that U.S. allies have been remiss in upholding freedom of navigation in the South China Sea," said Storey, of Singapore´s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.

"But China will be displeased as it suggests that U.S. allies are responding to Washington´s appeals... It might also nudge other U.S. allies to make similar moves."

FONOPs have so far not persuaded Beijing to curtail its South China Sea activities, which have included extensive reclamation of reefs and islands and the construction of runways, hangars and missile systems.

Beijing says it is entitled to build on its territories and says the facilities are for civilian use and necessary self-defence purposes. China blames Washington for militarising the region with its freedom of navigation patrols.

Foreign aircraft and vessels in the region are routinely challenged by Chinese naval ships and monitoring stations on the fortified islands, sources have said previously. In April, warships from Australia - which like Britain is a close U.S. ally - had what Canberra described as a close "encounter" with Chinese naval vessels in the contested sea. The Albion is one of three Royal Navy ships deployed to Asia this year, along with HMS Argyll and HMS Sutherland.

In a speech in Jakarta in August, Foreign Office Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said Britain was committed to an enduring security presence in Asia and urged countries to respect navigational freedom and international law in the South China Sea.

That law included the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, whose landmark 2016 judgement criticized Chinese actions in the South China Sea and found no basis for its sweeping historic claims. Beijing has repeatedly rejected the ruling and earlier refused to participate in the case brought by the Philippines. (Reporting by Tim Kelly. Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan in LONDON, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Greg Torode in HONG KONG. Editing by Lincoln Feast.)</s>Beijing: China's top diplomat and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay a three-day official visit to Pakistan from Friday. This will be the first high-level visit by any Chinese official to Pakistan after the country elected a new government led by Imran Khan.

"At the invitation of Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, China's State Councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Pakistan from 7 to 9 September," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here.

Besides meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Wang is likely to meet Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and president-elect Arif Alvi and discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and bilateral issues. "He will also meet the main leaders of Pakistani side and exchange views on bilateral relations, regional as well as international issues of mutual interest," Hua said.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather, strategic and cooperative partners. Our bilateral ties have been developing at sound momentum. "We have seen frequent high-level exchanges and political cooperation is also moving forward and there are rich outcomes from the CPEC," the spokesperson said.

Wang's visit came after US secretary Mike Pompeo's flying visit to Pakistan. Pompeo met Qureshi and Khan before heading to India for a maiden strategic and defence dialogue. Pompeo and Khan pledged to reset the bilateral ties that have sunk to a new a low, especially after Washington, scrapped $300 million of military aid to Islamabad, saying Pakistan did not use the fund to fight terrorism.

India will keenly watch Wang's visit. The CPEC is one of the pesky issues between Beijing and New Delhi as its planned route cuts through the disputed Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

A commentary in Pakistani daily Dawn said "recent global and regional developments, including India's intensifying alliance with the US to contain China, has created a compulsion for Pakistan and China to further intensify their military and economic relationship".</s>China lashed out at Britain on Thursday for sending a warship close to disputed islands in the South China Sea, where Beijing has built military installations despite competing claims from other nations.

The US and its allies have in recent times sent planes and warships to the area for "freedom of navigation" operations intended as a signal to Beijing of their right -- claimed under international law -- to pass through the contested waters.

China's foreign ministry said the HMS Albion naval ship entered the area on August 31, sailing close to the Paracel Island chain, known as Xisha in Chinese.

The vessel "entered the territorial waters of China's Xisha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government," a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.

"The Chinese Navy verified and identified the warship according to law and warned it to leave."

The foreign ministry has lodged a protest "expressing strong dissatisfaction", the statement continued.

"China strongly urges Britain to stop such provocations immediately so as not to damage the overall situation of bilateral relations and regional peace and stability."

Beijing has deployed a range of military hardware including anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles and electronic jammers across the South China Sea, where it has built islets and other maritime features into hardened military facilities, according to US officials.

In May, China landed heavy bombers on Woody Island in the Paracels, a show of military might intended to boost its territorial claims in the area.

Woody Island is home to China's largest base in the island chain, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

Beijing claims most of the resource-rich sea, through which $5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually, with competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.</s>BEIJING (Reuters) - African leaders attending this week’s summit with China don’t think that cooperation between the continent and Beijing has added to their debt burden, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said on Thursday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $60 billion to African nations at Monday’s opening of a China-Africa forum on cooperation, matching the size of funds offered at the last summit in Johannesburg in 2015.

China has denied engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy, and Xi said this week government debt from Chinese interest-free loans due by year-end would be written off for the poorest African nations.

In a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website, in the form of a question and answer, State Councillor Wang Yi said Xi’s speech had met with a rapturous reception from the African leaders at the summit.

“Some African leaders stated outright, certain Western countries only speak but don’t act, but China takes actual actions,” Wang, who is also China’s foreign minister, said.

“They said, China upholds putting righteousness first and is consistent in its sincere and selfless support for Africa’s development, in stark contrast to the inequality of relations between some major powers and Africa, and that those who believe Africa-China cooperation aggravates Africa’s debt burden are completely wrong,” he added.”There is no market for sowing discord between Africa and China!” Wang said, citing the unidentified African leaders.

China has defended the latest promise of financing for Africa, saying China is helping the continent develop, not pile up debt.

A wave of African nations seeking to restructure their debt with China has served as a reality check for Beijing’s ties with the continent, though most of its countries still see Chinese lending as the best bet to develop their economies.

Every African country attended the summit, with most sending their presidents, apart from eSwatini, self-ruled Taiwan’s last African ally that has so far rejected China’s overtures to ditch Taipei and recognize Beijing.</s>Donald Trump hit China with a whopping $50billion (£44.8billion) of duties on Chinese goods this summer and may unleash a further $200billion (£179billion) worth of crippling levies in the weeks to come. China hit back at the US, plying $50billion on US goods and threatening to impose another $60billion if tensions between the two nations do not subside. But because of China's massive trade surplus of US goods, experts believe Beijing’s retaliatory measures cannot compete with Mr Trump’s damaging tariffs, with the US relying heavily on Chinese imported goods. This is because the Chinese population doesn’t buy enough goods from US manufacturers in which to slap on equal amounts of tariffs and could affect the country’s own growth in the process.

Previous figures show in 2013, China sold $506billion (£454billion) worth of goods to the US, while importing just $130billion (£116billion) in American goods. Bo Zhuang and Rory Green, economists at TS Lombard, believe that the 25percent levies placed on the bulk of Chinese goods "would damage China's trade enough to provoke over the next six months or so a further 15 percent depreciation." Experts say another weapon that could be used by Beijing is further devaluation of the Yuan by the China Central Bank, which would make exports cheaper and offset the price of US imposed tariffs. Since April this year, the yuan has depreciated by eight percent against the dollar.

Further devaluation could "frighten off" investors seeking to set up in the country and could also result capital being shifted to more profitable markets as companies look to offset losses. Speaking on CNBC, Frontier Strategy Group analyst Josef Jelinek said: “On the one hand a depreciated currency helps them offset some of these tariffs. “But if it falls too far too fast, then investors may get frightened and they could see huge capital outflows, which is exactly what they don't want right now." On Tuesday, BlackRock Bank’s Philipp Hildebrand, dubbed the US-China trade war as “the biggest risk to the global economy”
Wang Huning, a senior official of the Communist Party of China, meets with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé in Beijing, China.