Why Chinese companies are also waiting for Sudan’s civil war to end

Prolonged fighting in Sudan is keeping Chinese companies out but plans are in place to go back in once the violence ends

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A civil war has been raging in Sudan since April last year. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:33pm, 16 Nov 2024Updated: 5:13pm, 16 Nov 2024

Chinese companies are ready to return to Sudan at a moment’s notice, according to a Chinese official, once security and stability are restored in the northeast African nation engulfed in a civil war.

Multibillion-dollar Chinese oil and gas projects have been stalled or destroyed since the fighting began in April last year. Chinese-built and funded operations have been grounded, with more than 1,300 Chinese citizens evacuated since then.

Zheng Xiang, the chargé d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Sudan, recently told state-owned Sudan News Agency that Chinese companies were keen to resume operations to help in the country’s reconstruction, while discussions with lenders were on to resolve its debt problems.

“We hope that security and stability will prevail in the near future to resume work as soon as possible,” Zheng said in the interview released this week.

The promise comes on the back of a meeting between Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Beijing in September.

Agreements made during that meeting set the wheels in motion.