Chinese Premier Boosts Trade with Seven-Nation Africa Tour

China's economic and diplomatic push into Africa has gone into overdrive this week with a seven-country tour by its premier, Wen Jiabao, to secure trade deals.

After warm welcomes in Egypt, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola, Mr Wen arrived in South Africa yesterday for two days of talks on nuclear power, textile imports and regional alliances. The visits form part of what Beijing foreign policy officials have dubbed the "year of Africa", a drive for access to the continent's natural resources to fuel China's booming economy.

Mr Wen was greeted at the Tuynhuys presidential office in Cape Town with a red carpet, two lines of cabinet ministers and a South African navy brass band. It was his fifth such ceremony in as many days, with two more later this week in Tanzania and Uganda.

The pomp reflected a burgeoning influence in Africa, which is rapidly catching up with that of the United States and the old colonial powers, Britain and France. Mr Wen said China's relations with Africa were based on mutual benefit and posed no threat to US interests.

China's trade with the continent reached a record $39.7bn (£21.5bn) last year, almost four times the figure in 2001. As ubiquitous as Chinese technicians building roads and railways are Chinese-run shops and restaurants. Schools have started teaching Mandarin and direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai are proliferating.

Mr Wen, the first Chinese premier to visit South Africa in half a century, was due to sign a pact on textiles to ease a trade imbalance blamed for the loss of 25,000 South African jobs, a touchy issue that has soured feelings towards Chinese immigrants. After talks with the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, the premier was due to meet oil executives and expatriate Chinese business leaders.

An accord on mining South Africa's rich uranium deposits and developing peaceful nuclear technology, with both countries sharing French-designed reactors, was also expected.

Further talks are scheduled for today to cover climate change, peacekeeping and the alleviation of poverty, a sign that China's engagement has broadened beyond a hunt for raw materials.

The Asian giant signalled its ambitions in January by publishing an Africa policy paper, followed by a tour of three countries by the president, Hu Jintao. In November Beijing will host a China-Africa summit that is expected to attract about 40 heads of government and state.

Mr Wen's tour is a showcase of Chinese deal-making. Accords in Egypt on oil, natural gas and telecommunications were followed by a $66m loan to Ghana for a telecommunications project and hints of $600m for a hydroelectric dam. Congo was offered economic, commercial and technical cooperation. Tanzania and Uganda are expecting fresh credit lines and infrastructure projects.

There was no doubting the trip's chief interest: oil. With an economy that grew by 10.3% in the first quarter of this year, China's need is ravenous. Worried by Middle Eastern instability, it wants more oil from Africa, which already accounts for up to a third of its supply.

Mr Wen's visit to Angola consolidated last month's $1.4bn deal between China's state-owned giant Sinopec and the host's state-owned oil producer, Sonangol, to develop new fields. Angola recently overtook Saudi Arabia as China's biggest oil supplier.

Without giving details, a joint communique said China would extend more credit and expand technical assistance for Angola's postwar reconstruction.

The president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, praised the lack of preconditions. "We hail China's pragmatism towards Angola, which has allowed us to speed up the country's reconstruction."

Watchdog groups said that was a euphemism for China turning a blind eye to the Angolan government's corruption and human rights abuses. Similar criticism has been levelled at Beijing's dealings with Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Chinese diplomats say it is a matter of respecting sovereignty. Privately they add that their approach is more honest than the west's, which chides some regimes but ignores allies' abuses.