A short page 2 story in the weekend Wall Street Journal sums up a strengthening Sino-Africa ties, from oil to aid:
Anyone wanting to find an African leader this coming week will need to book a ticket to Beijing. The heads of all but five of the continent’s 53 countries will descend on the Chinese capital for the biggest gathering of foreign leaders Beijing has ever hosted.
… African oil currently accounts for a third of China’s oil imports – an amount that is likely to increase… Huawei Technologies Co., China’s leading telecommunications-equipment maker, has done a thriving business in Africa even as the company has struggled to penetrate more-developed markets.
China’s total trade with Africa has ballooned to about $40 billion last year from $10 billion in 2000… World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has publicly complained that Chinese banks ignore human-rights and environmental standards when lending in Africa. [Full Text, subscribers only]
– Also Xinhua’s feature section (Chinese) on the China-Africa Beijing Summit
