Hundreds of African political and business leaders filed into China’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday eager to forge new partnerships, sign contracts and make industry connections.
“Business is business, we’ll buy from anywhere. In China, the price is right,” Abakar Tahir Moussa, a Chadian construction firm owner, told AFP, showing off the business card of a potential new Chinese partner.
He hoped to use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which ends on Friday, to partner with Chinese firms on road and bridge projects.
“I’m here to make contacts and get more business,” Moussa said after he joined thousands of delegates from more than 50 countries at the forum’s colorful opening ceremony.
A housing developer from Burkina Faso, who asked not to be identified, said Chinese products were “cheaper than elsewhere.”
“We buy everything from China: lights, air conditioning, wires… The only thing we get elsewhere is cement,” he told AFP outside the hall.
“If you want quality you can get quality (in China), and even the quality things are cheap,” he said, kicking off his shoes and clutching a smartphone with a gold case.
Bustling Beijing
The atmosphere was hopeful and friendly ahead of meetings that many Africans hoped would spur much-needed development and investment back home.
Leaders and their entourages from across Africa have flown in to Beijing since Saturday, keeping President Xi Jinping busy with bilateral meetings all week.
South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa and Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu heaped praise on their Chinese hosts, even over the food served at a lavish banquet thrown by Xi on Wednesday evening.
Broad-shouldered security guards in dark sunglasses kept watch outside the hall as delegates entered through airport-style X-ray machines.
Security around the capital has been tight all week with the steady arrival of heads of state.
Passengers arriving at Beijing train stations have faced enhanced security checks, while authorities have increased scrutiny of vehicles entering the city through traffic checkpoints.
Hotels have been booked out all week and surrounded by armed guards and new metal fences.
Bars in Sanlitun, a central shopping and nightlife district, have been packed with visitors from across Africa.
Xi pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years — more than half of it in credit — telling delegates at the opening ceremony that China was “ready to deepen cooperation with African countries.”
China is Africa’s largest trading partner and its loans have helped build much-needed infrastructure, but they have sometimes also stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.
Yet many delegates seemed hopeful that China, which seeks to tap Africa’s vast natural resources, could help their countries develop.
The Burkina Faso developer said Chinese investment had been “good for the economy” and “improved people’s lives”, while increased trade meant there were “many more things for people to buy.”
“I hope the forum will improve relations even further and bring more cooperation.”