The robust relations between China and the African continent are on a path to expand cooperation from its focus on infrastructure to encompassing new sectors like green development, said Raphael Obonyo, international public policy expert and member of the UN-Habitat's Youth Advisory Board.
China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, with bilateral trade reaching a record 282.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, according to data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Obonyo, a Kenya-born multi-award-winning policy analyst who has sat on the boards of several international bodies, shared his insights into the prospects of China-Africa relations and the impact of China's growth on the global economy.
"At the moment, China is Africa's largest trading partner and that is expected to continue. China is also the largest investor when it comes to infrastructure. That is expected to continue. So I see these sectors that already China and Africa have been cooperating on. But I see also new sectors, new areas like issues of climate," he said.
As new fields of cooperation form, he said, existing partnerships in fields such as industrialization, agriculture and cross-border commerce will also strengthen.
"I strongly believe that China and Africa will further deepen their cooperation, in terms of trade, in terms of economy, in terms of global governance and in terms of some of the mutual concerns. And I see prospects of China-Africa relations continuing to grow even stronger," said the analyst.
He also commented on China's growth prospects, which have serious implications for the global economy. Although some Western economists have projected sluggish forward momentum, Obonyo insisted that the country has overcome such predictions in the past and will do so again.
"I think China's economy will continue to beat expectations. And by that I mean it will continue to rise, it will continue to grow. And I think China will remain one of the key contributors to global economic growth. And as China's economy grows, I think it will be beneficial to the partnership between China and Africa. And in that way Africa is also likely to benefit from economic growth that is going to be experienced, or rather witnessed now in China," he said.
China-Africa cooperation to expand into new sectors: UN advisor
