(4 minutes read)
- President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, is in China. The first visit of the DRC strong man to China is aimed at building bridges with China, which is the largest investor in the continent and is looking forward to up its investment in the region in competition with the Western countries including the US
President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, is in China. The first visit of the DRC strong man to China is aimed at building bridges with China, which is the largest investor in the continent and is looking forward to up its investment in the region in competition with the Western countries including the US.
The upshot of the DRC president’s visit is to renegotiate mining contracts for its mineral reserves. In his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Félix Tshisekedi announced that they were upgrading the bilateral relationship from a win-win strategic cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. China is a major investor in the DRC particularly in the mining industry with companies such as Sicomines having a large interest in the Central African country.
Mr Tshisekedi will renegotiate Congolese mining contracts, in particular the one signed in 2008 with China by his predecessor Joseph Kabila (2001-2019). This would enable DRC to realize better conditions and return from the contract.
China rolled out a red carpet welcome to the visiting dignitary. Li told Tshisekedi that the China -DRC relations would achieve greater heights. DRC is a major exporter of copper, uranium, and cobalt – a key ingredient in batteries for consumer goods. However, DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The Congolese side hopes for an early conclusion of the renegotiation talks, possibly by the end of this year. DRC is looking forward to a state-to-state agreement, rather than agreements between the DRC and individual mining companies.
Read also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/botswana-and-drc-sign-an-mou-on-bilateral-trade-and-investments/
https://trendsnafrica.com/tanzania-lure-drc-with-cargo-clearance-deal/
https://trendsnafrica.com/tanzania-lure-drc-with-cargo-clearance-deal/
It may be recalled that prior to the visit of the DRC president, heads of state along with business delegations from Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Gabon visited China.
