Simply .. China as a strategic partner for Sudan – what do they have in common?

Dr. Adel Abdel Aziz Al-Faki
adilalfaki@hotmail.com

China is the largest global economy on earth, with a GDP by purchasing power parity of $25.7 trillion, according to the CIA Factbook, issued by the US Central Intelligence Agency and available on the Internet. The Chinese object to the American classification and say that they are the second economy after the United States, not the first! The explanation for this is the United States’ desire for the value of the Chinese yuan against other foreign currencies to be stronger than the value currently imposed by the Chinese authorities, which is the value that allows Chinese goods to invade American markets due to their cheap prices and quality.

The concept of strategic :

Partnership includes coordination, cooperation and support in the political, military, security, economic, scientific, cultural, environmental and humanitarian fields. It is a concept based on these pillars combined and not on the concept of partnership or economic cooperation alone.

China has become a leader in the global economy, ranking first in terms of GDP as we have explained, and China has the world’s largest reserves of gold and foreign exchange worth $3.9 trillion, and China is the world’s largest producer of electricity with a volume of 5.7 trillion kilowatts, and is also its largest consumer with a volume of 5.5 trillion kilowatts.
China is the world’s largest agricultural and industrial producer, with exports amounting to $2.3 trillion as the world’s largest exporter, while importing $1.7 trillion as the third country in the world after the United States US and the European Union EU China’s workforce is 806 million people, the largest workforce in the world, while the unemployment rate is 4.1% and inflation is around 2%. China’s foreign investments amount to $1.4 trillion, ranking 10th among the world’s countries.
Sudan, as a poor country, despite its enormous primary resources, needs someone to support it and support it economically from the major countries.
Many poor and least developed countries have become advanced economies or at least medium-developed countries as a result of being embraced by a major country.
There are many examples. In South Korea, Mexico and Singapore, the economy has grown with huge investments from the United States US . Malaysia has grown with huge investments from Japan and China.
China is considered the most suitable country for Sudan to establish a strategic economic partnership with. Firstly, due to the mutual respect between the two peoples, secondly, because China does not impose any political conditions in return for its development loans, and thirdly, due to China’s previous experience with Sudan in the field of investment in oil extraction and in trade between the two countries.
The Sudanese economy is currently facing very big problems, namely the destruction of infrastructure due to the war, which has caused an increase in the trade deficit, inflationary stagnation, the deterioration of the value of the Sudanese currency, and the loss of confidence in the banking system.
Getting out of the crisis requires one of two options: the first: massive support for the balance of payments from international financial institutions or friendly countries of no less than $10 billion as an initial payment. With development aid of no less than $ 5billion annually for at least five years.
It is clear that the chances of achieving such support are very slim due to the position of the United States US and the European Union EU countries that have great influence on the decision-making process in international financial institutions.
The second option:

implementing the strategic partnership agreement with China, including the use of the Chinese yuan in Sudan’s foreign trade exchanges, and in internal dealings as a second currency alongside the Sudanese pound.
Since relations between countries are based on interests, some may wonder about the reasons that push China to conclude a strategic partnership with a country in a state of war and finds it difficult to deal with the World community.
In fact, Sudan is looking for a country with great economic potential to help it unleash its latent energies, while China seeks to invest its surpluses abroad to advance in the list of countries that invest abroad, and to provide energy and food for its huge population that has exceeded 1.5 billion people, the largest population of a single country in the world.
In the post-war phase, we need large foreign investments, investments by companies from countries such as the Chinese CNPC, the Indian company, or the Egyptian army companies in the field of construction, roads, and bridges, as such companies are not afraid to work in unsafe environments because they are companies working to achieve strategic goals.
We have an experience with the Chinese CNPC company that worked in the field of Sudanese oil in areas where war was raging between the Sudanese army SAF and the army of the People’s Movement, so it was not afraid to work in a fragile security environment.
It is noteworthy that during the year 2013, the People’s Republic of China agreed to Sudan’s proposal to open a special account for the Sudanese government in Chinese yuan with Chinese banks, which would allow the use of the yuan in trade with it instead of the dollar and other international currencies.
Now there is a huge opportunity to activate this agreement to implement the use of the Chinese yuan in trade with China, and this implementation will help alleviate the pressure on the Bank of Sudan, which is currently suffering from providing foreign currencies for imports, due to the lack of sufficient reserves.
Accelerating the implementation of the agreement with China regarding the use of the Yuan in trade exchanges with it is considered a very appropriate solution in light of the current conditions that the Sudanese economy is suffering from. It would be great if the Bank of Sudan took serious action to implement the agreement immediately, for several reasons, the most important of which is that China is Sudan’s first economic partner in the fields of exports and imports (excluding the UAE, which is considered a mere mediator between Sudan and China), and that it currently occupies the list of the largest investors in Sudan, and also occupies the top of the list of lenders to Sudan through the preferential loans it has provided and intends to provide to Sudan. Most important of all for Sudan is that the use of the Yuan in trade will not entail the imposition of political conditions, and does not require passing through Emirati banks, nor through the New York Stock Exchange as is the case with the dollar.

And Allah is the Grantor of success.