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Farirai Machivenyika, Harare Bureau

China’s State Councillor and Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Wang Yi is expected in the country next week as part of a five-nation six-day trip to the continent beginning Tuesday.

The visit is a continuation of a tradition that began in 1991 where the Asian country’s Foreign Affairs Minister visits African nations on his first overseas trip of the year.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mr Geng Shuang on Thursday told his regular press briefing in that country that Mr Wang will also visit Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi at the invitation of his counterparts in the respective countries.

Mr Geng was quoted by Chinese media saying the minister’s visits, “indicate the high attention that China pays to its relations with Africa and will help boost the traditional friendship with nations of the continent”.

Mr Geng noted that 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and is an important year to implement the consensus Chinese and African leaders reached at the 2018 Beijing summit.

He said the visit will enhance communication between the two sides and will jointly push forward cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and take bilateral relations to a new level.

At the last FOCAC Summit held in Beijing in 2018, China’s President Xi Jinping extended an unconditional US$60 billion in loans and aid to Africa until 2021.

The money includes US$15 billion in grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, US$20 billion in credit lines and a US$10 billion special fund for development financing. 

Chinese companies will be encouraged to invest at least US$10 billion in Africa over the next three years, state media reported.

In Zimbabwe, China has provided US$1,1 billion for the Hwange 7 and 8 Thermal Power Station, US$153 million for the expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and a grant US$96 million grant for the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden.