China Pursues Port and Power Contracts in Sudan Before the War Ends

China is negotiating port and power agreements with Sudan's army-backed government while the war continues, the South China Morning Post reported, positioning itself for reconstruction contracts at a point when most Western governments keep only a limited presence in the country. One analyst quoted in the report said Beijing is using the prospect of future investment as leverage in its current dealings with Port Sudan.

Sudan matters beyond its own borders. It sits on the Red Sea opposite the shipping lane the Houthis now dominate, it produces gold that has become an important channel for sanctioned finance, and its oil export infrastructure carries South Sudanese crude to the coast. Contracts signed with a government that controls part of a divided country carry obvious enforcement risk, which is the cost Beijing appears willing to accept in exchange for being first to secure these assets.

The same week, Indonesia's coordinating minister for economic affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, urged developing countries to claim a larger role in global economic governance. The two stories describe one process from opposite ends. Middle-income states are asking for a bigger say in the institutions that set rules, while China is acquiring the assets those rules govern.