John Derbyshire reminds us of the unique historical relationship that China and Africa have experienced. Then he updates matters with the following economic synopsis:
China is resource-poor and Africa resource-rich, that’s why. China’s biggest supplier of oil is now Angola; and China is Angola’s largest export market after the U.S.A. Burkina Faso sends a third of its exports, almost all of which are cotton, to China, compared with virtually nothing in the mid-1990s. China takes over 70 percent of Sudan’s exports, compared with ten percent or so in 1995. Of the 4m cubic meters of undressed timber exported
from Africa every year, 60 percent goes to Asia, almost all of that to China... and so on. . In the first nine months of 2006, China-Africa bilateral trade volume totaled $40.6 billion, up 42 percent on the corresponding period in 2005. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, addressing a conference of Chinese and African entrepreneurs, urged both sides to bring their trade volume to $100 billion by 2010.
From the point of view of African elites, China’s attentions come refreshingly free of any concerns about human rights or economic transparency. Sahr Johnny, the Sierra Leonean ambassador in Beijing, noted that: “They just come and do it. We don’t start to hold meetings about environmental impact assessment, human rights, bad governance and good governance. I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying Chinese investment is succeeding because they don’t set high benchmarks.” A September 2004 U.N. Security Council resolution against Sudan had to be watered down under threat of a Chinese veto. (Satisfied at last, China abstained on the final vote.) The U.S. and European Union have arms embargoes against Sudan; China has three arms factories near the Sudanese capital, happily churning out weapons for the government forces.
On the other hand,
"Cheap Chinese imports, from textiles and shoes to medicines, hurt local industries; Chinese traders and storekeepers take business from local merchants." (More)