There was much agitation last month at France's African embassies after the foreign ministry instructed its diplomats to prepare briefings on economic projects which could be jointly run by French and Chinese companies. The Quai d'Orsay and the Finance Ministry at Bercy will collate these briefings by the summer and then propose a roadmap.

Despite Emmanuel Macron's call for greater Franco-Chinese cooperation in Africa during his trip to China in January, joint activities between the two countries