China is speeding up its comprehensive cooperation with Africa and supports the continent’s pursuit of independent development – that’s according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Wang continued a more than 20-year tradition by making Africa his first international trip of the year, when he visited Rwanda, Angola, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the aim of Wang’s 2018 visit was to promote political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and prepare for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, which will be hosted by China later this year.

So in the build up to that summit, what further developments can be expected in the relationship between China and the continent? And what were the core outcomes of Wang Yi’s visit to Africa this year?

Beatrice Marshall engages in a conversation with Hannah Wanjie Ryder, CEO of Development Reimagined in Beijing; Dr David Monyae, Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Johannesburg; and Prof Peter Kagwanja, President & CEO of the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi.