China is on a mission to recreate the ancient Silk Road to East Africa – through air, railroad and sea links under its Belt and Road Initiative.
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Beijing is also increasingly promoting the interconnected development of transport links and industrial parks built and operated by Chinese companies in Africa.
Its latest pledge involves a multimodal sea-rail transport network connecting Africa to China’s central and western regions, under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) action plan issued earlier this month.
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The September 4-6 FOCAC summit in Beijing saw Chinese President Xi Jinping hold separate meetings on the sidelines with his counterparts William Ruto of Kenya and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The talks focused on prioritising ports and rail connectivity projects for the coming network.