This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
On June 17, 2020, President Xi Jinping of China convened an extraordinary China-Africa Summit on solidarity against COVID-19, alongside South Africa and Senegal.
President Xi assured African countries that China will continue providing technical and material support needed to defeat the virus in Africa.
He urged African leaders to stick together in upholding multilateralism and oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the Coronavirus pandemic.
China's support for Africa during the current health crisis will include debt relief in line with the G20 moratorium and the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) framework, President Xi said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, who attended the summit, thanked China for the COVID-19 related support given to African countries, including Kenya.
“I wish to thank the Chinese government for the swift response to provide Kenya and the rest of the continent with medical supplies including testing kits, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), and pharmaceuticals to help us fight, not just the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the locust invasion,” President Kenyatta said.
President Kenyatta also called for more economic interventions by China, including deeper debt relief measures and trade concessions, to provide African countries with the breathing room they need for economic recovery.
President Xi Jinping congratulated Kenya for ensuring the uninterrupted flow of cargo from the Port of Mombasa into the East African hinterland via the Standard Gauge Railway.
The Chinese leader said this decision had helped keep trade flowing in the region despite the cargo movement restrictions occasioned by COVID-19 containment measures.
