The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, began a new African tour on Wednesday, in accordance with a well-established tradition which makes Africa the first destination for foreign trips by the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs at the start of each year. This visit, announced by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a continuation of Beijing’s policy of rapprochement with the continent.
Until Monday, Wang Yi will visit four countries in East and Southern Africa: Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho. So many states where China seeks to strengthen its commercial and political relations, in a context sometimes marked by security or social tensions.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, this tour aims to “ deepen mutual political trust » and « strengthen exchanges and mutual learning » between China and its African partners. Beijing thus intends to consolidate a strategic partnership that it considers essential to its foreign policy.
China, Africa’s largest trading partner
Economic dynamics constitute a central pillar of this relationship. China is today the African continent’s largest bilateral partner, with trade reaching $296 billion in 2024, according to Chinese official media. In recent years, Beijing has deployed hundreds of thousands of workers and technicians to Africa, while securing access to important mining resources, including copper, gold and lithium.
Also read: Africa-China: Ecobank and Bank of China strengthen their economic cooperation
First stop of the tour, Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, continues to face serious security challenges. The Oromia and Amhara regions are the scene of two separate conflicts pitting armed groups against federal forces, with large rural areas still beyond the control of central authorities.
In Somalia, Wang Yi’s visit aims to reaffirm China’s support for this country in the Horn of Africa, among the poorest and most unstable on the continent. Beijing recently condemned the visit of the Israeli Foreign Minister to Somaliland, a territory which seceded from Somalia in 1991. China strongly opposes the official recognition of this territory, after Israel became, on December 26, the first state to recognize Somaliland as an independent country.
The head of Chinese diplomacy will then travel to Tanzania, where the opposition and several NGOs accuse the security forces of having killed more than 1,000 people during the repression of an anti-government protest. This violence followed the elections of October 29, deemed fraudulent by foreign observers.
The tour will end in Lesotho, recently shaken by demonstrations by employees in the textile sector. These protests follow massive layoffs following the imposition of customs duties by Washington, putting a key sector of the country’s economy in difficulty.
