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Xi Unveils $60 Billion Funding Pledge at South Africa Summit

  • Africa to get $5 billion in interest-free loans, Xi says
  • China investment in Africa fell more than 40 percent in 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Photographer: Xinhua/Xie Huanchi via Getty Images
By
Rene Vollgraaff, Amogelang Mbatha and Mike Cohen
Updated on

Chinese President Xi Jinping opened a summit with dozens of African leaders in Johannesburg on Friday, pledging $60 billion in funding to promote cooperation and support development efforts in the world’s poorest continent.

The support package includes $5 billion of interest-free loans and $35 billion in preferential financing, export credit lines and concessional loans, Xi said in his opening address to the gathering at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa’s commercial capital. China is providing support to help lift Africa out of poverty and boost trade and doesn’t seek to interfere in nations’ internal affairs, he said.