China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced Thursday that Beijing would appoint a special envoy to the Horn of Africa, signalling his country's intention to play a greater role in the conflict-torn region.

The announcement came as a US envoy was due to arrive in Ethiopia to encourage talks to end more than a year of war in the country's north.

Wang, on a three-nation tour of Africa, said China wanted to encourage dialogue to overcome peace and security challenges plaguing the Horn.

"China will appoint a special envoy of the Chinese foreign ministry," he told reporters in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

"We will continue to play even a bigger role for peace and stability in the region," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Wang's visit to Eritrea, Kenya and the Comoros comes on the heels of a trip to Africa by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in November that was in part aimed at countering China's growing influence on the continent.

It also coincides with a return visit to Ethiopia by Jeffrey Feltman, the US special envoy for the Horn, who is expected to arrive in Addis Ababa on Thursday.

The State Department says Feltman, who is soon expected to stand down from the role, will try again to nudge the warring parties to the negotiation table amid a lull in fighting.

Rebels who were feared to be planning a march on Addis Ababa have withdrawn to their stronghold in Tigray, and the government says the military will not pursue them.

Feltman's trip comes after the United States angered Ethiopia by removing trading privileges for the longtime ally due to human rights concerns during the war.

Washington also slapped sanctions on Eritrea last year over its involvement in the Ethiopia conflict, which has killed thousands of people and created a deep humanitarian crisis.

Washington has demanded Asmara withdraw its troops from Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray, where soldiers from both sides have been accused of raping and massacring civilians.

During his visit to Eritrea on Wednesday, Wang voiced China's opposition to unilateral sanctions on the secretive state and foreign interference in the "affairs of other countries under the pretext of democracy and human rights".

China FM in Kenya on three-nation tour of Africa
Mombasa, Kenya (AFP) Jan 6, 2022 - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will tour Beijing-funded infrastructure projects in Kenya and discuss future economic opportunities with President Uhuru Kenyatta during a visit Thursday to the East African nation.

Wang arrived in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa late Wednesday from Eritrea, a closed-off country that was the first stop on his three-nation tour of Africa.

His visit comes on the heels of a trip to Africa by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in November that was in part aimed at countering China's growing influence on the continent.

China is Africa's largest trading partner with direct trade worth over $200 billion (177 billion euros) in 2019, according to official Chinese figures.

But it has been often accused of using its creditor status to extract diplomatic and commercial concessions.

China is Kenya's second-largest lender after the World Bank and has funded a number of costly infrastructure projects that have raised concerns about Nairobi taking on more debt than it can afford.

During his visit, Wang will tour the Port of Mombasa where China is constructing a new $353 million terminal to allow larger oil tankers to berth.

He will also meet Kenyatta and a team of ministers to discuss agreements on trade and investment, health, security, climate change and green technology transfer.

"The visit gives the two countries an opportunity to enhance bilateral relations by signing agreements," Kenya's foreign ministry said in a statement.

China has rejected suggestions its extensive lending to poorer African countries has trapped cash-strapped governments in debt dependency.

Beijing funded Kenya's most expensive infrastructure project since independence, loaning $5 billion for the construction of a railway line from Mombasa opened in 2017.

During a visit to Mombasa in January 2020, Wang described the railway as a "benchmark" of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar push to improve trade links across the globe by building landmark infrastructure.

After Kenya, Wang heads to the Indian Ocean island nation of the Comoros.

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China FM in Eritrea at start of Africa tour
Nairobi (AFP) Jan 4, 2022
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived on Tuesday in Eritrea, one of the world's most closed-off countries, on the first leg of an African tour. His visit follows a trip to Africa by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in November that was in part aimed at countering China's growing influence on the continent. Wang will on Wednesday hold talks with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, Eritrea's ministry of information said in a statement. To the dismay of th ... read more