Xi Jinping’s pledge of $60bn in new loans to Africa has triggered a wave of grumbling in China, the latest sign of popular hostility to the president’s international ambitions and to the tightening of political controls at home.
Censors quickly moved to delete critical posts that proliferated online after Mr Xi announced the fresh commitments at the triennial Forum on China-Africa Co-operation on Monday.
The president’s largesse prompted rare criticism among Chinese on social media over why their government was not spending the money on them, with one blogger suggesting that $60bn could fund China’s cash-strapped ministry of education for three years.