Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday hailed his country's ties with the African continent, saying they were at their "best period in history."

He made the comments at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) — the biggest summit Beijing has hosted in years.

Xi pledged over $50 billion (€ 45.12 billion) in financing for Africa over the next three years and promised to help create a million jobs on the African continent.

The FOCAC summit takes place every three years. This year, it is being attended by more than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, according to state media. 

The summit comes as Africa, slowly emerging from a series of defaults, seeks to define its future cooperation with its largest lender which now faces its own economic worries.

African leaders have already secured a plethora of agreements with Chinese counterparts in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy.

"China is ready to deepen cooperation with African countries in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment," Xi said, addressing leaders at the forum's opening ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Why is the forum important?

China — the world's second-largest economy behind the US — is Africa's largest trade partner.

Analysts say it seeks to tap into the continent's vast deposits of natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals which could safeguard China's subdued economy from geopolitical turmoil.

Meanwhile, Africa is in billions of dollars of debt to China, money which has helped build infrastructure but also stoked controversy for saddling governments with a large burden. 

"Deepening economic engagement with Africa across the board" is a key goal for Beijing this week, according to Zainab Usman, director of the Africa Program at the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"In specific areas, even where such an expanded engagement may not make economic sense, it will be driven by geopolitical reasons," she said.

Another likely goal is to narrow the growing trade imbalance between China and Africa by increasing imports of agricultural goods and processed minerals, Usman said.

"Meeting these African demands is in China's geopolitical interest to keep them onside in the tussle with the US."

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday that the contest for critical minerals was fueling geopolitical rivalry, creating challenges that are "more significantly felt by African nations."

Guterres warns of 'unsustainable' debt

UN Secretary General Guterres warned leaders at the summit that inadequate access to debt relief and scarce resources was a "recipe for social unrest" in African countries. He called Africa's debt situation "unsustainable."

"They have no access to effective debt relief, scarce resources, and clearly insufficient concessional funding to respond to the basic needs of their population," he said. 

He went on to propose fresh reforms to the international financial architecture.

African nations have been trying to restructure their debts through a system designed by the G20 called the Common Framework. However, the scheme did not accelerate talks with lenders ranging from Chinese state-owned banks to asset managers at London and New York-based banks.

On the other hand, Guterres said that expanding ties between China and the African continent could "drive the renewable energy revolution."

'A true friend of Africa'

Bilateral meetings held on the sidelines of the FOCAC summit saw several pledges on cooperation in projects from railway to solar panels to avocados.

Meanwhile, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed guests for a lavish dinner at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday evening, live AFP footage showed.

In the lead up to the summit, Chinese state media lauded Xi as a "true friend of Africa," claiming Beijing's ties with the continent were reaching "new heights" under his stewardship.

The Chinese president had held talks with more than a dozen African counterparts in Beijing by Wednesday, according to local media. 

mk/nm (AFP, Reuters)