The Democratic Republic of Congo is looking to strengthen their partnership with China as the two countries are renegotiating mining contracts for the DRC’s mineral reserves. This first State visit to China by the President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, is the latest in a series of diplomatic exchanges between African leaders and Beijing. Mr Tshisekedi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced on Friday that they were upgrading “the bilateral relationship from a win-win strategic cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. China is a major investor in the DRC, where the Asian power dominates the lucrative mining industry with companies such as Sicomines. But Mr Tshisekedi has publicly pledged to renegotiate Congolese mining contracts, in particular the one signed in 2008 with China by his predecessor Joseph Kabila (2001-2019), in order to obtain better conditions for his country.
DRC To Change the Way it Does Business with China
