China’s top diplomat has begun his annual New Year tour of Africa, with a focus on strengthening access to strategic trade corridors across eastern and southern Africa as Beijing moves to secure key shipping routes and resource supply lines.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi opened the 2025 tour with visits to Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Chad and Nigeria. He is expected to travel on to Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest-growing large economy; Somalia, which sits along vital global shipping lanes in the Horn of Africa; Tanzania, a logistics gateway linking mineral-rich central Africa to the Indian Ocean; and Lesotho, a southern African economy grappling with tighter U.S. trade measures. The tour runs until January 12.
China, the world’s largest bilateral lender, is facing increased competition from the European Union in financing African infrastructure, as several countries weighed down by pandemic-era debt now seek direct investment rather than loans.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said the visit aims to deepen political trust and cooperation, adding that it would “strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding between the two great civilisations of China and Africa.”
China is actively developing new strategic trade routes in Africa under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) due to a combination of geopolitical competition, the need for enhanced efficiency and security, and the desire to access new markets and critical raw materials. The “old routes” are often insufficient for China’s current strategic and economic goals.
