Algerian president's China visit unlocks new horizons for ties

Editor's note: Bereket Sisay, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, writes on international affairs with a special focus on Africa. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is paying a state visit to China from July 17 to 21 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It will be Tebboune's first visit to China since taking office. China and Algeria have a long-standing bilateral and multilateral partnership that covers a wide range of areas of cooperation. The two countries launched a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014, making Algeria the first Arab country to forge such a partnership with China.

In addition, following Algeria's accession to China's pragmatic cross-continental infrastructural network project– the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – in 2018, the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to further strengthen their partnership. Since the beginning of the relationship and the subsequent development of mutual cooperation, relations between the two countries have been on a rapid upward trajectory with no signs of a downward spiral.

This positive trajectory of mutual engagement has been evident in a wide range of areas, from trade and investment to various areas of joint economic as well as development cooperation. Given this, China has become Algeria's main trading partner over the past decade, with trade relations progressing steadily over time.

Algeria exports energy-related products such as refined and crude petroleum and petroleum gas to China, while China exports rubber-based products (car tires, footwear) and communications equipment to Algeria. And efforts are being made to restructure and rebalance the trade partnership in a way that benefits both. Similarly, Chinese investment in Algeria has been on the rise under the practical cooperation of the BRI, as Chinese companies and enterprises are involved in various development projects in Algeria.

Hoping to better leverage the bilateral strategic partnership and enhance practical cooperation, China and Algeria signed another five-year strategic agreement in November 2022, to strengthen communication and bilateral relations in the economic, agricultural, energy, technological, space and cultural fields. It is also intended to promote partnerships between the development strategies of Algeria and those of China.

However, both countries are in the early stages of negotiating how to operationalize this framework. Therefore, President Tebboune's visit to China came at this critical time to push for the rapid implementation of this agreement and to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

The visit will be a good opportunity to accelerate the implementation of these mutually agreed initiatives and to broaden and deepen cooperation. The visit will potentially pave the way for China to further engage with the Arab world as a development and peace partner.

China and Arab countries have been enjoying a broad economic cooperation and in 2022, trade between the two sides witnessed a remarkable surge, reaching $430 billion, reflecting a significant increase. It is inevitable that this visit will play a crucial role in maintaining and building on the momentum of the trade and investment partnership.

In addition, the recent China-brokered peace deal between long-time arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia has given China a reputation as a peacemaker. The peace deal has huge implications for the transformation of the wider Middle East as it plays a crucial role in restoring relations between the two major powers and replacing confrontation with cooperation as the new course of political order in the region.

So the visit will be an opportunity for China to promote and advance its peace cause in the region and thereby contribute to global peace and security. Algeria is an important strategic location as it occupies a position that can serve as a crossroads between North Africa and Europe.

Therefore, a better promotion of the BRI with the aim of increasing infrastructure connectivity would have a huge impact on both the region and the world. In particular, such forms of partnership would have a huge impact on the China-Africa partnership, which has been built on mutual trust and benefits, as Algeria is an integral part of Africa.

China has been one of Africa's most important trade and investment partners over the past decades, including through the BRI and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Moreover, this partnership has been growing steadily and is expected to expand further in the future.

Thus, Algeria's President Tebboune's visit to China would be an impetus for the long-standing Chinese-Algerian partnership to flourish even more. As a result, the visit will have a best of both worlds purpose, providing an opportunity to simultaneously strengthen Chinese-African and Chinese-Arab partnership.

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