China’s top diplomat tours Africa with focus on strategic trade routes

China’s top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Wednesday, focusing on strategic trade access across eastern and southern Africa as Beijing seeks to secure key shipping routes and resource supply lines.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest‑growing large economy; Somalia, a Horn of Africa state offering access to key global shipping lanes; Tanzania, a logistics hub linking minerals‑rich central Africa to the Indian Ocean; and Lesotho, a small southern African economy squeezed by US trade measures, on this year’s trip, which runs until January 12.

Beijing aims to highlight countries it views as model partners of President Xi Jinping‘s flagship ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure programme and to expand export markets, particularly in young, increasingly affluent economies such as Ethiopia, where the IMF forecasts growth of 7.2% this year.

China, the world’s largest bilateral lender, faces growing competition from the European Union to finance African infrastructure, as countries hit by pandemic‑era debt strains now seek investment over loans.

“Foreign Minister Wang’s