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Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times
China has overtaken the US because the “foreign power” having the most important optimistic affect in Africa in the eyes of young Africans, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a survey carried out by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation.
According to Bloomberg, the survey discovered that 76 % of 4,507 young Africans named China because the “foreign power” with a optimistic affect on their lives, whereas the determine for the US was 72 %. In 2020, 83 % of the respondents noticed the affect of the US as optimistic, in contrast with 79 % for China.
How might China overtake the US in simply two years? This was arduous received given the continuous malicious Western slandering in opposition to China.
For an instance, the survey confirmed the false reviews concerning the COVID-19 origin-tracing brought about 56 % of the respondents to mistakenly consider that the coronavirus is a “man-made virus released by China.” Such disinformation in opposition to China is malicious, nevertheless it turns into much more fascinating to take a look at the favorable view of China in opposition to a background of vicious slanders concocted by the West.
In the previous two years, regardless of some Western media shops have been eager on taking part in up tensions by partaking in a China-bashing competitors, extra African youth nonetheless maintain a good view of China.
Their favorable views could possibly be attributed to a number of elements. First, China has been concerned in a wide range of infrastructure initiatives throughout the African continent and is eager to assist construct land passages resembling railway strains, roads, ports, bridges, in addition to dams, skyscrapers, and energy stations that vastly helped African international locations enhance their financial system and the individuals’s residing requirements.
In latest years, China has more and more invested in the continent by means of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The initiative has assisted many African nations enhance their infrastructure that laid the inspiration for attaining broader widespread prosperity in the continent. This could possibly be simply felt by young Africans.
Second, huge cheap made-in-China merchandise have emerged as fashionable gadgets embraced by young Africans. China’s exports to Africa rose a formidable 13.4 % year-on-year in the primary 5 months of this 12 months. Young Africans are more and more keen to spend extra to purchase Chinese-made merchandise of excellent high quality, resembling electrical bicycles, smartphones and sport consoles.
Third, China’s investments on the continent don’t have any political strings hooked up. China succeeds as a result of it affords growing international locations what they really need, and China respects the alternatives of the event paths and social programs of the African international locations. In distinction, the US has overly targeted on political intervention whereas offering funding or financial help there. It is typically the case that funding is used as a instrument to promote American values to Africans.
The US authorities must rethink its financial relationship with Africa and provides extra respect to Africans. The survey carried out by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation has rung the alarm bell for the US.
China is not in partaking in a geopolitical rivalry with the US in Africa. The young Africans’ views of China’s gaining “increased influence” in Africa steered that we’re shifting in the correct route to continuously enhance our brotherly relations with African international locations. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic which weighed closely on the worldwide financial system, China-Africa financial relations stay resilient and very important.
The writer is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn
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