Despite its economic downturn, China still plans not to reduce its financing to Africa which it has been supporting for more than a decade now. As a matter of fact, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Friday, December 4, at the opening session of the 6th edition of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Johannesburg, that his country would invest $60 billion into Africa’s development.

Meeting with several other heads of states, President Xi unveiled a development strategy for Africa which is based on ten key points. “To ensure the successful implementation of these ten cooperation plans, China has decided to provide a total funding of $60 billion,” he said.

The Chinese development plan for the continent which will be implemented “over the next three years” aims, according to the Chinese head of state, to “fix three problems which are responsible for Africa’s slow development namely: inadequate infrastructure, lack of skilled and professional labor as well as insufficient funding.”

The Chinese president also said that his country would help African countries fight terrorism without interfering in political matters.

Unlike Western countries, Beijing prefers to not interfere in the internal affairs of African countries, whose leaders appreciate China’s decision to refrain from lecturing them on human rights and corruption issues.

Before arriving in Johannesburg on December 2, President Xi visited Zimbabwe. This African mini-tour of Chinese President comes at a time when African countries are starting to be impacted by the downturn in China’s growth. Investment from the Middle Kingdom in Africa indeed fell by 40% in the first half of 2015, following a sharp drop in the demand of raw materials from the Asian giant.