China Wants to Revitalize Economic Ties with Libya After 13 Years of Buried Relations

JAKARTA – China have great interest in Libya , before the outbreak of a bloody civil war in the oil-rich North African country. Before the 2011 revolution that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi and sparked war, China controlled many projects in Libya.

At that time, there were 75 Chinese companies working on 50 large projects with a contract value of more than USD 20 billion, according to estimates by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. These include oil, construction, railways and telecommunications.

However, China’s extensive investment suddenly came to a halt after several companies were targeted by attacks, leaving dozens of workers seriously injured. Beijing then acted quickly by evacuating its citizens from the chaos.

During the crisis, 35,860 Chinese citizens were pulled out of Libya – officially the largest overseas evacuation since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Then as the security situation worsened, China suspended new investments, something that has remained relatively unchanged until now.

Libya is currently divided between two governments: the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) based in Tripoli in the west of the country, and its rival Government of National Stability (GNS) aligned with renegade general Khalifa Hifter’s Libyan National Army in Benghazi in the east.

Recently, there have been visible signals that China is ready to open up again to the energy-rich, but still politically divided, country.

On June 10, Libyan Minister of Economy and Trade Mohamed al Hwej issued a directive to activate the Libya-China Joint Economic Chamber. The minister urged it to help build bridges and enhance investment communication between the two countries.

Chinese officials and Libya’s National Transitional Council have been negotiating China’s return to Libya, which was one of the issues being discussed when GNU Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah visited China in late May.