Equatorial Guinea donates $2m to ‘sister nation’ China amid coronavirus outbreak

Equatorial Guinea’s president has announced that the oil-rich country is to donate $2m (£1.5m) to aid its “sister nation” China as it battlesthe coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 636 people.

Yet China boasts the world’s second-biggest economy after the US, and its GDP of $13.6tr dwarfs Equatorial Guinea’s $13.4bn.

The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday and is intended as a show of “support and solidarity” to one of Equatorial Guinea’s key trading partners.

Although Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s third-biggest oil producer, more than half the population lives below the poverty line.