African Union officially launches base in China

The African Union (AU) has officially launched its office in China, with the support of the Chinese government ahead of the recently held Forum for Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, inaugurated the facility with the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and foreign ministers from African countries.

The representational office was part of the plans of the African Union and it gained fruition after the Chinese government offered in February 2018 to support in its establishment in Beijing.

“This representation will also support the work of the African Group of Ambassadors in Beijing, to ensure alignment with African Union positions. It should be noted that China had established a Permanent Mission to the African Union, since 2015,” an AU communique released in February explained.

China is the leading development partner in Africa and it’s building infrastructure in all the countries except eSwatini which has opted to have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, China’s rival. The Asian country built the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.

At the FOCAC, Xi Jinping announced eight new initiatives, an additional $60 billion for Africa and a clean up of the debt maturing by this year of its LDCs, highly indebted, landlocked and Small Islands States.

African leaders describe the initiatives as a win-win partnership.