What is it doing in Africa?

China’s Booming Economy China has enjoyed almost uninterrupted growth for 30 consecutive years. China, with about a fifth of the world's population, now consumes half of its cement, a third of its steel and over a quarter of its aluminium. China simply does not have enough natural resources of its own to meet the needs of it’s population. So, in order to keep its people happy and stable, it has to get its raw materials - oil, copper, zinc, cobalt - from abroad. Africa has what China needs. China in Africa

Why Africa? "Africa is full of opportunities – it's just like China when we started opening up a few years ago." Li Xiao Dong, Warehouse manager, Huayou Africa supplies a third of the oil fuelling China's economic boom. For the Chinese Communist Party, raw materials can create social stability. China has a billion people who want a better life. They want to buy TVs, cars and fridges. Importing from Africa keeps China's shelves stacked; it fuels China's economic boom; and it keeps its consumers happy and quiet. The Communist Party wants everything to stay this way.

A New Imperialism? According to the World Bank, China is helping to finance infrastructure projects in more than 35 African countries with Zimbabwe and Sudan among the biggest recipients. Only 7% of this finance is related to resource extraction, the bank says. The rest is for “broader development”. China has overtaken the US and France as Africa's biggest trading partner. Many Western diplomats suggest that China is looking to build up long term strategic military alliances in Africa.

Let’s Make Lots of Money With so many poor farmers in China unable to make a living off the land, Africa presents a host of inviting opportunities. The head of China's Export-Import Bank, Li Ruogu, recently suggested just how important Africa could be for ordinary Chinese people. Over 1 million Chinese farmers have now migrated to Africa to make a new living for themselves.

Congo In late 2007 the Congolese government announced that Chinese state-owned firms would build or refurbish various railways, roads and mines around the country at a cost of $12 billion, in exchange for the right to mine copper ore of an equivalent value. The Chinese authorities, it seems, are so anxious to obtain enough minerals to sustain their country's remarkable economic growth that they are willing to invest billions in a dirt-poor and war-torn place like Congo—billions more, in fact, than Western governments and investors combined are putting in.

Sudan Sudan is of considerable strategic importance to China because of its oil production, much of which China buys. In July 2008, a BBC Panorama team found evidence that China has been supplying weapons to the Sudanese government which has been implicated in genocide against women and children in the Darfur area. In exchange, Sudan and other African allies ensure that whenever Taiwan applies for UN membership it fails.

Concerns: Human Rights Some NGOs worry that Chinese firms will ignore international legal, environmental and human rights standards in its rush to secure resources, leaving a trail of corruption, pollution and exploitation. It is not just humanitarians who are worried. Paul Wolfowitz, the American neo-conservative who is now president of the World Bank, says Beijing ignores human rights, corruption and environmental standards.

Concerns: Environment Environmental protests are becoming more frequent & strident in China, despite state media blackouts. The country has, according to World Bank research, 16 of the 20 worst polluted cities in the world. Pollution in China