China and Africa in the Fight against COVID-19

The article deals with the problem of China’s medical assistance to African countries and, first of all, of its participation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic on the continent. The author analyzes the features of Sino-African cooperation in the field of medicine as of important tool of Beijing’s “soft power†policy. The role of both the state and Chinese companies and private businesses in this cooperation, as well as the role of classical and traditional Chinese medicine in the fight against diseases such as malaria, HIV - AIDS, and the Ebola epidemic in Africa, is considered. The article examines the factors that allowed Beijing to cope with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the country and to gain experience that has found application in the practice of Chinese assistance to African countries. The author analyzes the features of the COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent, where its spread is fraught with a serious threat. The focus is on the specifics of China’s medical assistance to African countries in the fight against this threat: sending medicines and protective equipment, doctors and medical personnel, and building and refurbishing hospitals. At the same time, the article analyzes the problem of eliminating the economic consequences of the pandemic for Africa and China’s participation in the recovery of the African economy, as well as the role that the global Chinese project “One belt, one road†is intended to play in these processes.