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, assuring African countries that his country will continue supporting COVID-19 containment measures on the continent.
Speaking during the virtual summit, President Xi said, “China will never waver in its pursuit for greater solidarity with Africa.”
He urged African leaders to stick together in upholding multilateralism and oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the COVID-19 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.
He also announced that his government will support programmes aimed at strengthening value chains on the continent, fast track the construction of the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) headquarters, and support projects aimed at enhancing intra-Africa connectivity.
President Xi assured African leaders that his government will ensure Africa is among the first to benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine once it is rolled out.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who attended the summit in his capacity as a member of the Bureau of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State and Government, thanked China for the COVID-19 related support given to African countries, including Kenya.
President Kenyatta identified loss of jobs and reduction of revenues as key impacts of COVID-19 on African economies and appealed for more economic interventions by China.
