This is to deepen the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership and boost friendly cooperation between China and Africa,. This is the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has been the destination of Chinese foreign ministers’ annual first overseas visit.
This is in addition to China being part of the BRICS bloc, which controls about 24% of the global GDP, 16% of world trade, and home to 41% of the world’s population. The BRICS bloc certainly has the political and economic clout to have a say in the direction the world will take in the next few years.
The BRICS chair and the leader of the group’s most important member, Chinese President Xi Jinping, last year gave a keynote speech titled “Fostering High-quality Partnership and Embarking on a New Journey of BRICS Cooperation” on the 23 rd of June.
The speech addressed some of the most pertinent global issues namely peace and security, global development, technological innovation, and global economic openness.
President Xi’s speech did not only give the world a peek into the thinking of the world’s second largest economy but also painted a picture of US-China polarisation on major global issues.
Xi used the platform to tout his Global Security Initiative which he first proposed in April 2022 which seeks to promote “comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security” for the world based on the principle of indivisible security. The GSI could be China’s way of claiming global leadership and casting itself as a responsible global power in a direct challenge to US dominance. However, China has work to do in convincing important allies such as South and East Asia, Russia, Africa, and Europe to buy into its initiative.
Further, President Xi also delved into global development lamenting the widening global inequality between the developed and the developing regions of the world as a result of weakened international development cooperation. He advanced China’s Global Development Initiative as part of the solution to combat rising world poverty and put the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development back on track.
The GDI seeks to promote cooperation and development in areas such as food security, poverty, education, health, and the environment among other things. Once again, through the GDI, China is standing up to fill the global leadership vacuum left by traditional western development partners. The GDI has been endorsed by the United Nations. For regions like Africa whose development prospects have been greatly undermined by the Covid-19 pandemic, the GDI offers an opportunity to reduce poverty amongst their people.
The Chinese President also discussed the state of the global economy raising concerns that the global economic recovery may be reversed. He spoke against the ‘deliberate disruption’ of vital industrial and supply chains and the rising commodity prices which were causing global inflation.
According to a report by the World Bank, global economic growth estimates for 2022 have been reviewed downwards from the initial 4.1% to 2.9% which is sharp decline from the 5.9% that was achieved in 2021. President Xi encouraged openness, inclusiveness and integration and criticised what he called the “weaponisation of the global economy”.