CPPCC Takes Up Frontline Role to Bolster China-Africa Ties
From 8 to 17 April, Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Vice-Chair HU Chunhua led a delegation to West Africa with Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal on the itinerary. From 16 to 26 April 2025, Mr GAO Yunlong, Chair of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) and also Vice-Chair of the #CPPCC, led another delegation to Southeast Africa and visited Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa. On 3 May 2025, CPPCC Vice Chair MU Hong, attended the inauguration of Gabonese President Brice Nguema.
The objective of the mission was to spur China-Africa cooperation as per the Ten-Point Action Plan (#TenActionPlan) announced at the last Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (#FOCAC2024) Summit and as part of the runup to the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (#CAETE2025) which will take place in China in June 2025. For this fourth edition of the Expo, five African countries have been designated as special guests: Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa.
In Nigeria, the subject of infrastructure development remains at the center of bilateral cooperation. As an oil-rich country, Nigeria welcomes #FDI to further develop the oil and gas sector and is willing to increase its export of hydrocarbons to China.
In Cote d’Ivoire, Mr Hu invited Ivorian parliamentarians to China to exchange on #GoodGovernance to promote socio-economic development. In Senegal, the discussions focused on potential touchpoints between the National Economic Transformation Agenda, also known as #Senegal2050, with the Belt and Road Initiative (#BRI) of China.
During meeting with President Nguema, Mr Mu reiterated China’s pledge to support Gabon in its infrastructure development. In particular, China plans to build the new Senate complex, the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, and the new hospital at Oyem. With its huge hydrocarbon fields and vast forests, Gabon is a key partner for China.
Kenya is positioning itself as the gateway to East Africa and talks to extend the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (#SGR) are ongoing. With the 2nd largest population in Africa with a market of 130 million consumers, Ethiopia remains an attractive destination for Chinese #FDI. As a matter of fact, China has set up Special Economic Zones (#SEZ) in both Kenya and Ethiopia.
In South Africa, he held meetings with Vice-President Paul Mashatile, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of SME. Mr Gao personally reiterated a warm welcome to the policy makers to the CAETE. VP Mashatile expressed interest to partner with China in the field of healthcare sovereignty especially since the USA has stopped the PEPFAR program and closed down USAID.
“We continue to call on China to work with South Africa in changing the trade structure and diversifying market access for value-added products to close the concerning trade deficit.”
South African VP Paul Mashatile
In line with the #TenActionPlan arrived at the last #FOCAC2024 Summit, VP Mashatile called for a transformation of the trade dynamics between Africa and China so that Africa can elevate itself along the Global Value Chain (#GVC) and close the trade deficit with China and the world.
As South Africa currently holds the chairship of #G20, VP Mashatile reiterated the invitation to Chinese Present XI Jinping to attend the G20 Summit in November 2025. In these turbulent times with testing tariffs, South Africa looks forward to working with China to elaborate a ‘new development paradigm’ in the spirit of South-South Cooperation (#SSC). South Africa and China are also members of the #BRICS and #GlobalSouth with intertwined destinies.