China seeks "strategic partnership" with Africa

Thu Apr 27, 9:34 AM ET

ABUJA (Reuters) - China wants a "strategic partnership" with Africa, President Hu Jintao said on Thursday, seeking to add a new political dimension to a blossoming economic romance.

In a speech to Nigerian lawmakers, Hu underlined China's respect for African "independence and sovereignty," which analysts said was a deliberate contrast with the United States' interventionist diplomacy under George W. Bush.

"I would like to propose ... (to) strengthen political mutual trust," Hu, dressed in a business suit and tie, told a packed assembly in the Nigerian capital.

"Let us seize the opportunity and ... endeavor to forge a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa."

Hu made the address during a two-day state visit to Africa's top oil producer and most populous nation, the latest stop on a world tour that includes the United States, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Kenya.

Analysts said Hu's offer of an alternative to the United States' prescriptive foreign policy and "War on Terror" would be welcomed by African leaders.

"China is saying it wants to build a new world order based on consensus and tolerance, not the clash of civilizations," said former foreign minister Bola Akinyemi.

"It is bound to resonate in Africa, where we have 900 years of coexistence between Christianity, Islam and traditional religions."

BUSINESS BOOM

China's renewed diplomatic push into the world's poorest continent is reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s, when Chairman Mao's envoys forged anti-Imperialist solidarity with Africa's independence leaders.

But the latest campaign is built on an unprecedented business boom, driven by China's increasing hunger for raw materials -- particularly oil -- to power a market-driven economy growing at over 9 percent per year.

Chinese exports to Africa hit $13.8 billion in 2004, up 36 percent over the previous year, while imports -- mostly raw materials -- surged 81 percent to $15.65 billion.

Chinese imports to Africa have all but destroyed some low-tech industries, such as textiles, but Hu sought to emphasize the potential for "knowledge-based" cooperation, building skills and value-added manufacturing.

"Africa has rich resources and market potential. China has available useful experience and practical know-how it has gained in the course of modernization. Africa-China cooperation has broad prospects," Hu said.

Nigeria agreed to give China four oil exploration licenses in exchange for a commitment to invest about $4 billion in refining and power generation in Nigeria, in one of seven deals signed on Wednesday.

Hu also agreed to $500 million in export credits on concessionary terms to Nigeria.

Rising world oil prices, which hit a record $75 last week, have stoked fierce competition between Asia and the West over access to new reserves.

China and other Asian countries have snatched some valuable concessions away from Western multinationals by offering soft loans or combining oil deals with non-oil investments.

In Sudan, which is threatened with United Nations sanctions over what the United States has called genocide in Darfur, Chinese diplomacy has also secured valuable oil rights.

Hu said an Sino-African summit in China in November would develop an action plan for developing relations further over the next three years.

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