China kicks off major African summit as it seeks to woo leaders amid pressure from the West

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Delegations from dozens of African countries are gathering in Beijing for a three-day summit set to see China showcase itself as a lead partner for the continent, despite slowing lending for its development – and as it faces rising frictions with the West.

A procession of African leaders have arrived in the Chinese capital in recent days, greeted at the airport by honor guards and dance troupes with images flashed across state media, while Chinese officials have touted the gathering as the largest diplomatic event they’ve hosted in recent years.

The fanfare comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has much to signal to his visiting counterparts, and the world, as the summit gets underway Wednesday.

It is the first such gathering between Chinese and African leaders in the capital since 2018 and arrives at a critical juncture in ties between Beijing and a continent that’s home to its only overseas military base and where it has been the driving economic foreign power.

In recent decades, free flowing Chinese funding has driven the construction of highways, rail lines and power plants across Africa. The financing has filled funding gaps and expanded China’s political influence, but also generated criticism it was saddling countries with unsustainable debt.

Now, in the face of these concerns and its own economic slowdown, Xi and his officials will be likely pitching a new tune – what they posit as sustainable “small yet beautiful” investments and more collaboration on the green technologies in which China leads the world in producing.

This week will be