September 1, 2023
President Xi Jinping hosted a state visit by Benin’s president, Patrice
Talon, as China extended its engagement with Africa in the wake of last week’s
BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.
President Xi told
Talon he led a delegation to Benin in the 1990s and came home deeply impressed
by the enthusiasm of the West African country’s people. Talon said Benin has
benefited from China’s experience and wants to use it to as a model for its own
national development.
The two sides also announced a strategic partnership. While in Beijing, Talon
is attending the Global Trade in Services Summit at the China International Fair for Trade in
Services, or CIFTIS, in Beijing. Xi is scheduled to address the
summit by video link on Saturday. What is trade in services and why does it
matter? Take a look.
Beijing also hosted dozens of top-level military delegations for the Third China-Africa Peace and
Security Forum. Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Li
Shangfu told the gathering that his country makes no political demands in
exchange for its assistance to the continent.
More headlines
Economist and special CGTN contributor Alexander Ayertey Odonkor writes
that President Talon hopes to leverage
his visit to improve Benin’s access to China’s “colossal”
market.
At the Peace and Security Forum, Zhao Xiaozhuo of the Chinese Academy of
Military Science tells CGTN that Chinese aid to Africa seeks to enhance
security by removing the root causes of instability and chaos.
(Sources: China Report)
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