China’s Defence Ministry used a routine briefing on 10 February to reaffirm a long-standing theme of Beijing’s foreign policy: that China is Africa’s most trustworthy partner and “brother” on security. The statement by ministry spokesman Colonel Jiang Bin followed President Xi Jinping’s recent reply to Zimbabwean liberation veterans and framed military cooperation as a core element of a decades‑old relationship born in anti‑colonial solidarity.
Jiang traced ties back to the 1950s and 1960s, noting China’s early support for African struggles against imperialism and colonialism and saying the relationship has matured into practical defence cooperation. He highlighted a broad portfolio — personnel training, joint exercises and training, peacekeeping deployments, counter‑terrorism cooperation, and humanitarian assistance — and pointed to institutional initiatives such as the China‑Africa Peace and Security Forum and medical aid programs as “brand” projects.
The ministry’s language welded historical solidarity to contemporary strategic concepts that Beijing has promoted internationally, including its Global Security Initiative and a joint “security partnership action” with African states. The phrasing is both declarative and diplomatic: it reassures African partners of continued support while signalling to international audiences that China intends to be a security provider, not merely an economic partner.
For decades China has expanded its military engagement in Africa in parallel with trade and infrastructure investment. Beijing’s role in UN peacekeeping, large numbers of bilateral personnel exchanges, arms transfers and the establishment of a logistics hub in Djibouti have given the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) touchpoints across the continent. Those ties help African governments build capacity, while giving China influence within African security ecosystems.
The significance of the defence ministry’s statement is twofold. First, it underlines Beijing’s intention to normalise and institutionalise military-to-military relations as part of its broader foreign-policy architecture rather than treating defence ties as ad hoc or transactional. Second, it is a calibration of messaging: emphasising reciprocity, equality and developmental language to counter Western portrayals of Chinese military expansion as purely strategic or coercive.
That framing will nonetheless attract scrutiny. Western governments and some analysts see an expanding Chinese security footprint — from training and arms sales to logistics and maritime deployments — as increasing Beijing’s strategic influence and complicating Western and regional security calculations. African states, for their part, retain agency; many seek diversified partnerships and value Chinese training and equipment that are sometimes cheaper or less politically conditional than Western alternatives.
In practical terms the defence ministry pledge points to an expectation of deeper operational ties: more joint exercises, steadier peacekeeping contributions, and expanded counter‑terrorism cooperation in the Sahel and Horn of Africa. It also creates political capital for Beijing ahead of high‑level China‑Africa summits and follow‑on initiatives that will seek to fold security cooperation more closely into Belt and Road infrastructure and diplomatic engagement.
For international policymakers the announcement is a reminder that African security landscapes will be shaped by multiple external actors and that Beijing is intent on being among the most influential. Engagement strategies from Western capitals will need to account for the attraction of Chinese offers — cost, speed and low‑publicity delivery — even as they weigh transparency, interoperability and long‑term strategic effects.
The Defence Ministry closed by promising that the Chinese military will “continue to uphold sincerity, affinity and good faith” as it cooperates with African armed forces and advances a shared security agenda. The message is straightforward: China intends to remain an indispensable partner on the continent’s security path, using both historical ties and contemporary initiatives to make that claim tangible.