China-Africa Summit 2018 Starts In Beijing

China-Africa Summit 2018 began in China's capital Beijing on September 3, 2018. Hosted by China's President Xi Jinping, the two day summit is attended by more than 50 African leaders entailing heads of state or their representatives.

The China-Africa Summit alias Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is an economic cooperation conference between China and Africa that held once every three years. The last summit was held in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is geared towards promoting trade between China and Africa, as well as Chinese investments and economic assistance to Africa.

Currently, China is Africa's biggest trading partner with trade amounting $170 billion as of 2017. So far, the trading pattern has been characterized by flows of raw materials particularly mineral resources from Africa to China, and manufactured goods from the latter to the former. In this way, Africa has been supporting the development of China's manufacturing sector probably at the expense of its own!

Also, Chinese investments in Africa have increased tremendously in the recent time, with the bulk of the investments going into infrastructure and mining projects, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa.

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