As US pursues mine deals, Xi warns African resources are not tools for ‘rivalry’

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that Africa’s resources should not be used as a tool for geopolitical rivalry, as the United States steps up efforts to secure critical minerals on a continent where Chinese companies have major mining interests.“Africa’s resources belong to Africa,” Xi told Botswana’s President Duma Boko in Beijing on Tuesday, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.He said it was a “historical injustice” that an unfair international division of labour had left the continent at the bottom of industrial and value chains, according to state broadcaster CCTV, adding that China would help make development plans for Africa’s mining sector that involved greater added value.Xi said China would be glad to see other parties providing genuine support for Africa’s development, and would work to create more favourable conditions for business investment and operation, Xinhua reported.