China Strengthens Its Ties to Africa
Anyone wanting to find an African leader this coming week will need to book a ticket to Beijing.
The heads of all but five of the continent's 53 countries will descend on the Chinese capital for the biggest gathering of foreign leaders Beijing has ever hosted. The three-day summit will highlight a mushrooming trade relationship between the world's most populous country and its second-biggest continent that is stirring angst among some in Washington.
China's leadership is rolling out an enormous welcome for its African guests that hints at Beijing's grand ambitions for the relationship. The airport expressway flutters with hundreds of welcoming flags; billboards across the city have been covered with messages attesting to Sino-African friendship; and television stations are running specials on Africa tourism.
China's modern presence in Africa dates to the Cold War, when it sought to form "anti-imperialist" alliances there to block the U.S. and its allies. In recent years, the focus has changed to acquiring natural resources to fuel China's galloping economy. African oil currently accounts for a third of China's oil imports -- an amount that is likely to increase, as China is expected to become even more heavily reliant on foreign oil sources.
But China's trade relationship with Africa now goes well beyond oil and other natural resources. Africa also offers a largely untapped and underserved market for Chinese companies as they take steps toward becoming global players. Huawei Technologies Co., for example, China's leading telecommunications-equipment maker, has done a thriving business in Africa even as the company has struggled to penetrate more-developed markets.
China's total trade with Africa has ballooned to about $40 billion last year from $10 billion in 2000. Two-way trade rose 30% last year -- faster than China's overall foreign trade -- and Chinese officials expect it to increase at least 25% this year, to more than $50 billion. China now ranks as Africa's third-largest trading partner, behind the U.S. and France.
In Nigeria, Sudan, Angola and elsewhere, Beijing is seen as a more hands-off alternative to the West, which is increasingly imposing stringent environmental and social conditions on aid to African nations. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has publicly complained that Chinese banks ignore human-rights and environmental standards when lending in Africa.
But as the gala summit will demonstrate, China shows no sign of wanting to slow its burgeoning rapport with Africa. From Beijing's perspective, it can't afford to -- especially when it comes to oil. "China's options are limited," said Zhang Zhongxiang, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii. "As a late entrant to the international oil game, China has little choice but to strike deals with what the U.S. and others call rogue states to secure oil supplies."
中非合作论坛受瞩目
本周，想和非洲领导人碰面恐怕就一定要飞到北京了。
相关报导
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? 中国将加强同非洲经贸和维和合作
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除5个国家以外，非洲大陆其他48个国家将有众多首脑云集北京，参加在这里举行的有史以来最盛大的外国首脑会议。在为期3天的中非合作论坛上，中非领导人将重点讨论中非迅猛发展的贸易关系。中国是世界上人口最多的国家，非洲大陆则是全球第二大大陆。眼下非洲大陆正不断引起美国部分政府人士的忧虑。
中国领导人正在为迎接非洲客人准备盛大的迎接礼，这足以看出中国在发展中非关系方面的决心。机场高速路数百支彩旗迎风招展；城里的广告牌上布满了宣传中非友谊的标识；电视台也不断播放着有关非洲旅游的专题片。
中国与非洲的友好关系可追溯至冷战时期，当时中国为与美国及其联盟抗衡与非洲结成“反帝国主义”联盟。近些年，中国将发展中非关系的重点逐渐转向了向非洲购买自然资源，为中国迅猛发展的经济助力。来自非洲的石油目前在中国石油进口总量中占到三分之一－－随着中国对海外石油资源的依赖度逐渐增强，这一数字还有望继续增长。
不过中非贸易关系并不局限于石油等自然资源。随着中国企业努力使自己成为全球市场参与者，非洲为它们提供了亟待开发的广阔市场。举例来说，中国主要的通信设备生产商华为技术(Huawei Technologies Co.)在进军发达国家市场屡屡受挫的情况下却在非洲建立了广泛业务。
去年，中国与非洲贸易总额达到400亿美元，几乎相当于2000年100亿美元的4倍。去年双边贸易增幅为30%，高于中国整体贸易增幅－－并且中国官员预计今年还将至少增长25%，达到500多亿美元。中国目前已经成为仅次于美国和法国的非洲第三大贸易伙伴国。
在尼日利亚、苏丹和安哥拉等许多国家，北京已被公认为可以取代西方国家的、能够不干涉非洲事务的理想合作伙伴。近年来，作为援助非洲的条件，西方国家在环境和社会状况等方面对非洲提出了诸多苛刻要求。世界银行行长沃尔?福威茨(Paul Wolfowitz)已经公开谴责中国的银行在向非洲发放贷款时忽视了人权和环境标准。
不过本周的中非论坛将充分显示，中国并不打算放慢与非洲友好关系快速发展的脚步。在中国政府看来，中国几乎无法承受放缓中非贸易的代价－－涉及到石油就更是如此。设在夏威夷的东西方中心(East-West Center)的一位高级研究员表示，“中国的选择非常有限。”“作为较晚参与全球石油争夺战的国家，中国别无选择，只能在这些被美国和其他国家称为无赖国的国家寻求石油供给。”
Shai Oster
