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China sends Wen for round three of African diplomatic offensive
By Peter Harmsen
AFP
BEIJING
Petroleumworld.com 06 16 06
China will begin round three of an intense diplomatic campaign in Africa on Saturday when Premier Wen Jiabao embarks on a hectic seven-nation tour of the continent.
Wen will spend one week traveling through Egypt, Ghana, the Republic of Congo, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, pushing ever harder his nation's economic interests that inevitably focus on oil.
"Agreements on economics and trade (to be signed in Africa) will of course also deal with cooperation on energy and resources," assistant foreign minister He Yafei told reporters at a briefing on Wen's trip.
"It's true that energy is an important part of China's cooperation with Africa."
But while China's insatiable demand for energy will attract much interest, the government and Chinese researchers say Wen will be looking to consolidate and expand on a far wider range of economic issues.
From copper in Congo to timber in Liberia, China has been looking to Africa every more keenly in recent years for a wide range of natural resources.
Meanwhile, the continent has become increasingly crowded with Chinese construction workers building highways, railways, ports, dams and hotels, while products bearing the "Made in China" label are ubiquitous.
Trade volume between China and Africa reached around 40 billion dollars in 2005, a rise of 35 percent from a year earlier and almost four times higher than in 2001.
China has done its best to further woo Africa this year, first sending Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to Cape Verde, Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Nigeria and Libya in January this year.
President Hu Jintao visited Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya in late April, with Wen's trip the third high-level diplomatic mission to Africa in less than six months.
One stop on Wen's trip that is expected to generate particular interest is Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer after Nigeria.
China has already invested in several projects to rebuild infrastructure in Angola following a brutal 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, and extended a two-billion-dollar credit line to the country.
China's investments have paid handsome rewards with Angola now rivaling Saudi Arabia as the Asian nation's biggest supplier of oil.
Angola shipped 2.61 million tonnes of crude to China in March, ahead of Saudi Arabia's 2.43 million tonnes, according to Petromatrix Gmbh, a Swiss-based trade advisory and risk management company.
In April, Angola slipped back to become China's second-biggest supplier shipping 1.77 million tonnes of crude, behind Saudi Arabia's 2.24 million tonnes, Petromatrix said, commenting the two were "really head to head."
China's state press also reported this week that the nation's largest refiner, Sinopec, had acquired stakes in three Angolan oil exploration blocks that had total proven reserves of 3.2 billion barrels of oil.
However assistant foreign minister He and Chinese observers emphasized that Wen's trip was not just about oil and Angola.
"China is the world's largest developing country, and Africa has the world's biggest concentration of developing countries. They share many interests," said Chu Shunchang, spokesman of the China Africa Business Council.
"Wen's visit will help Chinese enterprises better appreciate the opportunities that Africa offers."
Zhang Xiang, vice president of the China Society of African Studies, a government think tank, highlighted the fact that Africa could learn lessons about development from China.
"In the past China was poor, but now it's developing very fast, and it's become very attractive for the African countries," Zhang said.
"The African countries are increasingly willing to cooperate with China, because they want to find out how China developed so fast."
However China's interests have attracted much concern in the West, amid allegations that the Chinese are exploiting Africa's people and resources, and backing some of the continent's worst regimes such as the government in Sudan.
AFP 15 1046 GMT 06 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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