MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China expands economic and political ties with Africa

The China-Africa summit ended in Beijing with the Chinese government pledging to double both aid and trade with African nations.

China expects annual trade with Africa to total 100 billion US dollars by 2010.

Beijing authorities also promised the 50 heads of state and ministers attending the summit that aid in loans and soft credits with increased to 5 billion US dollars. The Chinese press was also quick in describing the summit as a milestone.

In addition to doubling aid to Africa by 2009 and bilateral trade by 2010, China also unveiled 1.9 billion US dollars of immediate trade and investment deals. These include 300 million US dollars new aluminum production plant in Egypt, a 300 million contract to upgrade a highway in Nigeria and a 200 million for a copper project in Zambia.

Energy short China is increasing its economic and political ties with Africa because its booming economy has developed a tremendous appetite for raw materials, such as Nigerian and Sudanese oil. However Western critics are concerned with the growing presence of China in Africa warning that Western countries are losing further ground both in terms of access to future raw materials and political influence.

They also point out to the fact that China has no qualms about supporting repressive African regimes such as Zimbabwe and is offering another option to those countries under pressure to respect human rights or move towards democracy.