‘China has never been a colonial power’: Ramaphosa hits out at critics of China’s rising footprint across Africa
BEIJING - President Cyril Ramaphosa has rebuffed several negative narratives peddled against China increasing its footprint and unprecedented cooperation with countries across Africa.
A chuffed Ramaphosa bid farewell to South African and international journalists in Beijing, at the conclusion of his two-pronged visit to China. Ramaphosa was this week on a State Visit to China, before he attended the successful Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit which drew around 50 African heads of State to Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in the opening ceremony of FOCAC pledged $50.7 billion (around R904 billion) in investment and assistance packages to the African continent over the next three years.
At the press briefing late on Thursday, Ramaphosa fielded questions on the negative narratives and disinformation campaigns around China’s investments and assistance on the content, including the “debt trap” narrative.
“Our experience is that China seeks to promote a mutually beneficial relationship with countries that it interacts with or engages with on the continent. Today, President Xi Jinping demonstrated that, where he said China is now going to upgrade the relationship that it has with a number of countries to a comprehensive strategic partnership. That has a lot of meaning politically, and I guess you can extrapolate from that, economic dealings as well.
“I don’t subscribe and believe that is a relationship that is oppressive, that is neo-colonial, but it should be seen as a mutually beneficial relationship that is based on recognition, respect, and also advancing each country’s own development. China is much more focused on development of countries on our continent,” said Ramaphosa.
“You must also remember that China has never been a colonial power, particularly on the African continent. From time immemorial, when Zheng He travelled to Africa, it was around 1434 or so, to advance relations with the African continent. I told President Xi Jinping that I see the China that he is leading, moving in the same direction as Emperor Zhu Di who opened up China at the time and wanted to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the world, and indeed, with our own continent. It is a relationship based on all the good intentions, and we accept that,” he said.
Ramaphosa said African countries are warming up to China “because we can see genuineness, we can see respect and we can see the intention to have a mutually beneficial relationship”.
He added that the mega funds pledged by Xi are in the main investments and Beijing seeks to get a return on its investments.
“I don’t necessarily buy into the notion that when China invests, it is with an intention that in the end, those countries end up in a debt trap or in a debt crisis. During Covid-19, I had the opportunity to talk to President Xi Jinping about the debts that many African countries were carrying at the time, and we were advocating for debt cancellation, debt forgiveness and a standstill on the debt repayments.
“I was able to get President Xi to get exactly where African countries stood and that resulted in China agreeing that with the selected number of countries, they would cancel the debt. Others would have their debt payment still in agreement. We see China as a partner that seeks to foster development of our continent, and when they have outlined the various investments, we find that they have done so in many countries on the continent,” said Ramaphosa.
On Thursday, in a historic move, Xi Jinping announced an unprecedented financial support package, valued at $50.7 billion in different forms for the African continent when he met the heads of State at the FOCAC summit.
Xi told the auspicious opening ceremony of the Forum, at the Great Hall of the People, that in the next three years, China will work with Africa to take the 10 partnership actions for modernisation to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernisation.
China and Africa account for one-third of the world population, and Xi said without China-Africa modernisation, there will be no global modernisation.
The 10 partnership areas include cooperation on building a platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network for development, and 25 centres on China and Africa studies; the second package focuses on China “voluntarily and unilaterally” opening its market wider – with some nations in Africa which enjoy diplomatic relations with China enjoying zero-tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines.
The partnership will also see China foster industry cooperation growth clusters with Africa, push forward the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, and launch an African SMEs empowerment programme.
On behalf of China, Xi also committed to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa, promote together high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and put in place a China-Africa network, featuring land-sea links and coordinated development.
The Asian economic powerhouse also committed to assist in the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and deepen logistics and financial cooperation for the benefit of trans-regional development within Africa.
On another leg of the partnership, Xi announced that China supports Africa in hosting the 2026 Youth Olympic Games and also offering backing for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
On the partnership action for health, Xi said China is ready to establish with Africa, a hospitals alliance and joint medical centres.
“We will send 2,000 medical personnel to Africa, and launch 20 programmes of health facilities and malaria treatment.
“We will encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa’s pharmaceutical production, and continue to do what we can to help Africa with epidemic response. We support the development of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen public health capacity in all African countries,” said Xi.
On partnership action for agriculture and livelihoods, Xi announced that China will provide Africa with RMB1 billion yuan in emergency food assistance, send a battalion of 500 agricultural experts, and establish a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance.
On the vocational education cooperation plan, China has promised to provide 60,000 training opportunities to Africa, mainly for women and youths – in vocational education.
“We will launch with Africa a Cultural Silk Road programme, as well as an initiative of cooperation on innovation in radio, TV and audio and visual programmes. The two sides have agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa year of people-to-people exchanges,” he said.
On the ninth partnership action for green development, Xi said China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa, put in place meteorological early warning systems, and carry out cooperation in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief as well as biodiversity conservation.
“We will create a China-Africa forum on peaceful use of nuclear technology, establish together 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration. All this is designed to help with green development in Africa,” said Xi.
The tenth partnership action centres on “common security”, where Xi explained that China is ready to build with Africa a partnership for implementing the Global Security Initiative, and make it a fine example of GSI cooperation.
“We will give Africa RMB1 billion yuan of grants in military assistance, provide training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 police and law enforcement officers from Africa, and invite 500 young African military officers to visit China. The two sides will conduct joint military exercises, training and patrol, carry out an action for a mine-free Africa, and jointly ensure the safety of personnel and projects,” said Xi.
“To implement the 10 partnership actions, the Chinese government will provide RMB360 billion yuan ($50.7 billion or around R904 billion) of financial support through the next three years. This breaks down into RMB210 billion yuan of credit line, RMB80 billion yuan of assistance in various forms, and at least RMB70 billion yuan of investment in Africa by Chinese companies,” said Xi.
“In addition, China will encourage and support Africa in issuing panda bonds in China to enhance our results-oriented cooperation in all areas.”
Xi said the friendship between China and Africa transcends time and space, surmounts mountains and oceans, and passes down through generations.
He added that the founding of FOCAC in 2000 was a milestone in the history of China-Africa relations.
IOL