Ahead of a two-day China-Africa forum beginning Sunday, China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Beijing is offering to abolish import duties on some African commodities and ensure that its exports to the continent are safe.
The suggestions outlined in an article published Saturday appear part of an effort by China to show that it is balancing its mushrooming needs with those of a continent that is saddled with some of the highest poverty rates in the world, a debilitating AIDS epidemic and chronic corruption and conflict.
"Of course China's objectives are to grow its economy," said Edward K. Brown, director for policy services at the Africa Center for Economic Transformation, a research and policy advisory organization based in Ghana.
But Brown said Africa's leaders must also shoulder the same burden.
"Africans need to up the ante to see how they can best leverage their potential and ensure that Chinese investments are channeled into those areas where they generate the most value," he said.
The meeting Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik is a continuation of a push launched in 2006 by the energy hungry Asian giant into a resource-rich continent — a drive that included billions in investments in infrastructure.
Chinese investments in Africa totaled $7.8 billion as of last year, while trade has rocketed 30 percent annually this decade, exceeding $100 billion last year, Chen said in an essay published in the state-run China Daily newspaper.
Africa, however, has not been China's only target.
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