One of the major geopolitical/economic trends of the past decade has been China’s ever-expanding activity on the African continent. Trade between China and Africa amounted to about $115-billion in 2010 and is mushrooming at about 44 percent annually. China has signed bilateral deals with about 45 African countries and more are likely. However, while some African leaders welcome China’s investments into their lands, many are worried about China’s business practices and their seemingly inexhaustible appetite for the continent’s natural resources.
A Zambian woman buys chickens from a Chinese poultry trader in the capital LusakaReutersBao Yuping (C), commander of the Chinese navy hospital ship "Peace Ark", walks from the ship after docking for a medical visit at the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa October 13, 2010. The medical staff aboard the ship will provide medical treatment to people in five African and Asian countries - Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles and Bangladesh. The Peace Ark has a crew of 428 soldiers, officers and medical workers. ReutersConstruction workers erect a new bridge along the Nairobi-Thika highway project, under construction near Kenya's capital Nairobi, September 13, 2010. The road, which is being built by China Wuyi, Sinohydro and Shengeli Engineering Construction group, is funded by the Kenyan and Chinese government and the African Development Bank (AFDB). The project will cost 28 billion Kenyan shillings ($330million), according to the Chinese companyReutersSouth African President Jacob Zuma (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Zhongnanhai Leaders' Compound in Beijing August 25, 2010. South Africa's economy should soon be able to generate 7 percent annual growth for years through economic plans currently being developed, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday during his state visit to China.ReutersChinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo smiles as he prepares to board a plane after a two-day official visit to Zambia.ReutersChinese special envoy to Darfur Liu Guijin attends the opening session of the A.U. and U.N. Sudan Consultative Forum in KhartoumReutersChinese workers attend a civil and military parade marking the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo in KinshasaReutersTunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Kamel Morjane (R) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi after signing an economic agreement in Tunis May 17, 2010. ReutersChinese contractors walk past Congolese workers as they prepare to welcome a delegation from China Railways Engineering Company CREC in KinshasaReutersA Chinese engineer protects his face from dust at a construction site in Khartoum, Sudan, on Feb. 16, 2009. China's interests in Africa have multiplied in recent years, with trade rising tenfold since 2000 to nearly $107 billion last year.Reuters
