China to expand investment in Africa by promoting corporate cooperation in various fields: official

China is committed to expanding its investment in Africa by further promoting corporate cooperation in various fields, according to a commerce official.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Beijing, Shen Xiang, director of the West Asia and Africa Department under the Ministry of Commerce, briefed the press on the current landscape of Chinese investment in Africa.

"African countries have seen steady economic development in recent years, with the overall business environment continuing to improve and the willingness of Chinese firms to invest in the continent significantly growing. Our data reveals that over the past five years, annual average direct investments from Chinese companies in Africa have consistently exceeded 3 billion U.S. dollars, with investment projects spanning a wide range of sectors. In addition, the entities involved in China's investments in Africa have become increasingly varied," he said.

Shen also noted that the ministry will further enhance the investment by fostering cooperation, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

"The Ministry of Commerce will encourage Chinese companies to coordinate the construction of various industrial parks, logistics facilities, power and energy projects tailored to the resource endowments and industrial development plans of African countries, and promote the integrated development of investment and trade. It will continue to motivate enterprises from both sides to seize the opportunity of China's expanded opening up and achieve greater investment cooperation," said Shen.

"The ministry will also actively facilitate partnerships between SMEs between China and African countries, organize SMEs matching activities, support young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs from both regions to carry out innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation, so as to create broader avenues for cooperation among SMEs," he said.

China to expand investment in Africa by promoting corporate cooperation in various fields: official

A Japanese lawmaker has raised concerns over Japan's push to expand its military and its nuclear policy.

Responding to some politicians' dangerous tendency towards possessing nuclear weapons, Takara Sachika, a member of Japan's House of Councilors, said that Japan's push to strengthen its military, combined with what she called a misguided nuclear policy, not only heightens regional tensions but also directly threatens regional security.

"I think this is completely unacceptable. Japan is a country that has suffered atomic bombings and is one of the nations most aware of the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Yet such a country is openly discussing the issue of possessing nuclear weapons and even attempting to revise the principle of not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons, one of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. This is an extremely serious problem," Takara said.

Takara said the Japanese government's tendency to expand its military capabilities is completely contrary to the Constitution.

"From the perspective of Japan's Constitution, Japan should never have adopted a policy of ensuring security by strengthening military capabilities. Yet today, enormous effort is being poured into military expansion, and that in itself is a serious problem," said the lawmaker.

At a Diet meeting in early November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that what she described as the Chinese central authorities' "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, and suggested the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, drawing strong criticism worldwide.

Takara urged Takaichi to retract her erroneous remarks as soon as possible.

"I think there is a very big problem with making such remarks that provoke other countries. It is necessary to thoroughly examine the facts as soon as possible and withdraw the relevant remarks," she said.

Japanese lawmaker criticizes nuclear weapons remarks as threat to regional security