Africans In China

Zambia is courting investment from China, Africa’s biggest emerging market partner, overlooking concerns from the West over poor labour and human rights records and welcoming the Chinese with open arms.

The impoverished southern African country is the continent’s top copper producer and will soon be exploring for oil near its border with Angola. To woo China, Zambia has offered tax incentives and other sweeteners, including express work permits for Chinese labourers.

Chinese companies have, for their part, promised to invest $900 million in manufacturing copper products in an economic zone built for them, where they receive tax waivers on dividends and customs duty on capital equipment.

Analysts say China is making inroads into Zambia and other African countries because of its loans and grants which come without the stringent conditions attached to funds from the West, and its investments are seen as a political talking point.

Acting President Rupiah Banda has backed China’s involvement in Zambia’s economy and has made much political capital out of a recent u-turn on China by the main opposition leader, Michael Sata, his principal rival in the Oct. 30 presidential election.

“Even those that have been against certain investors now say they want them in,” said Banda at a recent campaign stop.

In the last presidential election held two years ago, when he lost to the late Levy Mwanawasa, Sata called for the deportation of Chinese investors whom he accused of taking jobs from Zambians and paying poor wages to Zambian workers.

But he now promises to work with China.

“I have been misunderstood over China … We will welcome Chinese investments, but we will not allow them to come here to cook food in market (stalls). We need their technology and they should create good jobs,” Sata told an election campaign rally.

In what is a now familiar sight across Africa, China’s drive to secure minerals, oil, and a place for its workers and industries to thrive is converging with Zambian government plans to tap the potential of undeveloped regions.

Some in Zambia are suspicious of China’s motives, mirroring the ambivalence towards the Asian giant’s investment push felt by many Africans.

“The Chinese are well known for giving ‘gifts’ to government officials,” said Chibamba Kanyama, a Lusaka-based economist.

“In war-torn countries like Sudan or Congo, China has been seen as the better devil (compared to the West), because Western companies will not go into troubled areas to put up basic infrastructure like roads.”

STRATEGIC INTEREST

Consultant Oliver Saasa of Premier Consult Ltd. said the controversy surrounding Chinese investments in Africa could end if authorities drew up regulations for investors.

“The Chinese are not here to advance the Zambian economy but for their strategic interests and so it is incumbent upon authorities to create regulatory oversights that will ensure they operate within local legislation,” Saasa said.

Zambia says it has received pledges of about $4.3 billion in foreign direct investment in the eight months to August this year, the bulk of which is from Chinese firms.

Most of their cash is aimed for Zambia’s vast copper mines.

Zambia depends upon copper and its by-product cobalt for more than 65 percent of government revenues, and the nation, which is seen by analysts as “resource rich” but “infrastructure poor”, hopes that China can help unlock its wealth.

One of the bigger Chinese investments is the $400 million expansion of the Kariba North Bank hydro power plant to generate 900 megawatts, up from 660 megawatts, to power copper mines. Yet another is a $250 million copper smelter.

Zambia’s chamber of mines said investment in mining was urgently required, regardless from where it came from.

“The nationality doesn’t matter … Chinese, British or Americans, we need more foreign direct investments in mining. We need all of them,” said Frederick Bantubonse, the head of the Chamber of Mines of Zambia. (Editing by James Macharia)

(reuters)

China’s push into Africa is prompting growing interest over Beijing’s motives in the world’s poorest continent with opinion divided over who stands to benefit most.

Speaking at the launch this week of a new China research programme run by the Johannesburg-based South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), its chief academic said China had “changed the game of development” after years of domination by Western governments and donors.

“I think that’s probably the most important contribution that China has made to date in African development,” added Chris Alden, who is also a lecturer on China-Africa relations at the London School of Economics.

Trade between China and Africa is estimated to have increased tenfold between 1999 and 2006, with Beijing keen to find alternative sources of oil and other natural resources to fuel its economic drive.

While China insists both sides stand to gain, the balance of trade remains heavily in Beijing’s favour with complaints echoing across the continent that cheap Chinese-made goods are dumped on local markets.

Sceptics have also pointed to involvement of Chinese construction companies in projects funded by loans from Beijing as evidence that so- called largesse is in fact little more than self-interest.

But, speaking at the SAIIA launch, Singapore’s high commissioner to South Africa Justice MP H’aja Rubin said accusations of exploitation were unfair.

“I share the view with many others that the fears of any hidden agenda and economic hegemony on the part of China are somewhat overstated,” he said.

“Evidence does not support the insinuation that China is currently on the path of exploitation at any cost.”

A senior official at the Chinese embassy said African countries were regarded as equals, echoing previous pledges that Beijing is not about to forge a neo-colonial relationship.

“We don’t think we have the right to teach them how to run their countries, how to run their affairs,” said the diplomat on condition of anonymity.

“We prefer to have dialogues on all the serious problems, the environment, good governance, trade.”

A frequent criticism of China is that its involvement in Africa comes with no strings attached as with Western aid and it has shown a willingness to overlook abuses by countries such as Sudan as it takes its oil.

Prince Mashele, a senior researcher with the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, said Chinese companies have been met with fierce resistance in countries such as Nigeria, Zambia and in parts of Mozambique where there have been complaints over standards of pay and safety in Chinese-run factories.

“One pole is that China is a predator, the other pole is that China is a partner,” Mashele said.

Both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have toured Africa in the last 18 months, partly in order to allay fears about China’s motives and announcing further rounds of soft loans and debt cancellations.

In a sign of unease in some quarters, Hu had to scrap a scheduled visit earlier this year to a Chinese-run copper mine in northern Zambia where 50 Zambians perished in a mine explosion in 2005 to avoid planned protests.

Garth le Pere of Pretoria’s Institute for Global Dialogue said another source of complaint among Africans was a reluctance of the Chinese to appoint locals to management even if they are happy to hire them as labour.

“The cultural and linguistic distance also does not help,” le Pere added.

(thefinancialexpress)

BANKERS in South Africa recognise the immense threat posed to them by Chinese investment in Africa’s commodities market.

“We have a Chinese shareholder and we’re hoping to benefit from deal flow. But I’d say there’s a level of concern in the banking community,” says Brad Breetzke, head of project finance at Standard Bank.

The concern is the swiftness with which Chinese investors scoop up business in Africa quite simply by offering turnkey type solutions to African governments. Martyn Davies, of Frontier Advisory, says: “The World Bank will take three years over a project – the Chinese will get it going in three months.”

China’s engagement in Africa started in 2000 after a decision was taken in Beijing to secure key commodities in African states. Since then, Exmin Bank has offered investments worth US$4,4bn to Angola, where 35 Chinese companies are currently operating. But Chinese companies don’t just build mines: they build schools, railways and airports. Moreover, they do it quickly. Very quickly.
Some $3,5bn in investment has been offered to Gabon – hardly top of any SA mining firms’ places to invest – in an effort to secure its abundant iron ore reserves, mostly notably at Belinga. In addition to Belinga’s iron ore mine a deep-water port and railway is also being planned.

Critics of the Chinese point to its lax environmental standards and poor labour practices, but Davies says the Chinese perspective is they don’t see why labour should get paid more in Africa than in China. “The western press has adopted an emotive line regarding Chinese investment in Africa but European and US investment behaviour has been the same,” says Davies.

There are now signs the World Bank and China are beginning to share investments, with both considering co-operation on the Bui Dam on Ghana’s Volta River. It’s one of the first examples of co-operation where a recent dry season resulted in the river’s reserves falling that, in turn, led to power disruptions for Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick.

(miningmx)

Sovereign wealth funds and the IMF are drafting a voluntary code of conduct on governance, accountability and investment policies in a bid to serve the funds and the  host countries.

Cathy Mputhia

October 22, 2008: Many foreign investors are now turning to Africa for secure returns following huge losses in Western markets. The recent financial crisis in leading global markets has left many investors seeking for secure returns. According to analysts, the African economy is growing.

Recently, Kenya and a few other selected African countries were classified as emerging economies by the IMF. Changes in national laws have opened up the continent for foreign investment.

In Kenya, there are proposals to amend the existing Companies and Partnership Laws in line with global standards. Such amendments will ease the formation of new business structures, for example, private equity funds in addition to offering a conducive environment for the issuance of structural finance products.

These new changes may see a number of sovereign wealth funds investing in Africa. This is due to the changing global financial environment and the shift by investors from high-risk return investments to relatively low-risk investments.

The regulatory reforms by some countries are an additional attraction for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Analysts and some lawyers are optimistic the changing environment may cause a gradual shift by SWFs into Africa. There has been a lot of debate as to whether SWF investments will favour the common man in a continent strife with poverty. However, with a direct improvement in the economy, a ripple effect will be felt in the economy according to analysts.

SWFs are not the only funds seeking to seize the opportunity of investing in Africa. Dubai World, this year started a $100 million investment plan in Ethiopia including mining and real estate projects.

A regional office has been opened in South Africa. Chinese state banks have also moved to Africa. A joint fund with African banks and worth $6 billion has been developed to invest in various African economies.

However, SWFs are still viewed with suspicion in most countries due to the fact their activities are shrouded with secrecy and the fact that they are an investment by sovereign states. The issues of state sovereignty, public international law and conflict of laws arise, further complicating their operations.

The EU has proposed some guidelines for SWFs, which guidelines have been opposed by the SWFs in question. In the US, SWFs attracted protectionist reaction.

It is notable that the most active SWFs are from the Middle East and China. In 2006, the US Congress blocked a bid by a Middle Eastern SWF to take over a major and strategic shipping company as the deal would have seen the SWF taking control of six US ports.

This was deemed too risky especially since it was seen as making the US too vulnerable to terrorist attacks from the Middle East.

The SWFs and the IMF are in the process of drafting a voluntary code of conduct relating to governance, accountability and investment policies of SWFs in a bid to serve both the SWFs and the host countries.

Analysts and lawyers have been debating over the issue for a while with most taking an optimistic outlook. However, all were in agreement that African states should take advantage of the changing global environment to provide conducive regulatory framework to support the shift by investors.

They were also in agreement that Africa forms an attractive investment market. The only major issues perhaps overlooked, would be the high political risk of investments and political interference.

(bdafrica)

From October 18 to 19, 2008, the sixth senior officials meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Cairo. Representatives from China, 48 FOCAC African members, as well as regional organizations attended the meeting. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun and Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Ibrahim Ali Hassan, also FOCAC coordinator, jointly attended the opening ceremony of the meeting. Zhai addressed the meeting on behalf of the Chinese side and Hassan read out the written speech on behalf of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. Both sides also attended and addressed the closing ceremony of the meeting. The meeting welcomed the entry of Malawi, which has recently forged diplomatic ties with China, into the FOCAC.

The meeting reviewed a report presented by Xu Jinghu, Secretary General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum, on the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November 2006, and further moves.

The delegates agreed that with the joint efforts of both sides, the implementation of the follow-up actions of the Beijing Summit has been satisfactory with fruitful cooperation on politics, economy, trade, social development, humanities, personnel exchanges and the Forum mechanism building. Both sides have witnessed frequent high-level visits, increasing political ties, closer diplomatic consultations and support and coordination in international and regional affairs. China has also expanded exchanges and cooperation with African Union (AU) and Africa’s sub-regional organizations. The eight measures announced by China to enhance practical cooperation with Africa are being implemented with initial outcome achieved. China and African countries have conducted vigorous economic and trade cooperation, carried out colorful cooperation in the fields of social development including culture, sports, finance, science and technology, civil aviation and tourism and increased exchanges between political parties, parliaments, local governments, women, youth and businesspeople of both sides. The Forum’s mechanism is improving with richer connotation.

The representatives from African countries appreciated and thanked China for its unswerving efforts and efficient work in implementing the follow-up actions of the Beijing summit, especially the 8 measures on practical cooperation with Africa. The Chinese delegation spoke highly of African countries’ efforts to keep close cooperation with China and seriously implement the achievements reached at the Beijing summit.

The delegates agreed to focus on the following areas to implement the follow-up actions of the Beijing summit and deepen the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. Both sides should build up political trust and give full play to the political guiding and promoting role of the FOCAC in the development of China-Africa relations. The eight measures to enhance China’s practical cooperation with Africa should be taken as priorities to comprehensively carry out cooperation in the fields of economic and social development within the framework of the FOCAC. Both sides should also identify key areas for future cooperation and pay more attention to improving livelihood of African people. They also agreed to strengthen China-Africa cooperation in all areas and institutions to continuously enrich the Forum’s connotations and further enhance the FOCAC mechanism building.

The delegates held discussions on the two topics of “China-Africa agricultural cooperation and food security” and “infrastructure construction”. Noting that the current international financial crises, food price hikes and energy turmoil have great influence on African countries, the participants of the meeting said Africa’s cooperation with China in these fields will help the continent better cope with the risks. China agreed to continue strengthening cooperation with African countries on agriculture and infrastructure construction and offer them aid within its ability to help them deal with the challenges in the areas of food security and economic and social development. The Chinese government will continue to encourage the businesses with good reputation and strength to invest and cooperate in Africa so as to contribute to the continent’s economic and social development.

The delegates agreed on the initial plan for the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum put forward by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum and African diplomatic corps in China. They decided to hold the fourth ministerial conference of the forum in the fourth quarter of 2009 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as well as the 7th senior officials meeting.
(fmprc)

Tao built River Dragon from a start-up with four employees into one of China’s biggest textile printing firms in just five years. He had even grander dreams: He wanted to see his company’s stock trade on Nasdaq alongside the likes of Microsoft and Intel.

The dreams are dead. River Dragon shut down on Oct. 7. Tao and Yan have vanished, leaving behind more than $290 million in debt and a lot of anger in this city 140 miles south of Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta. The company’s demise put 4,000 workers on the street and jilted hundreds of suppliers and creditors.

The speedy rise — and speedier fall — of River Dragon is a depressingly familiar story in China these days. Thousands of Chinese factories have shuttered in the past year, done in by:

•An export-killing global slowdown that began with the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the ensuing financial crisis. Local textile merchant Fang Xingquan, a River Dragon creditor, is among many who believe a sharp drop-off in exports was a key factor in the company’s demise.

•Rising materials costs that have squeezed profit margins.

•A deliberate Chinese government campaign to regulate sweatshop factories out of business.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics this week said the nation’s economy grew at an annual rate of 9% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, the lowest since 2003. The state-run Xinhua news agency said the government is considering a series of actions to boost exports and stimulate home sales.

Many economists, including Yu Yongding of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believe that China needs to keep annual economic growth of 8% or 9% to absorb the 24 million people entering the labor force every year or risk social instability.

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Chinese economic growth would cool from 2007’s sizzling 11.9% to 9.7% this year and 9.3% in 2009. Private forecasters are even more pessimistic. UBS Investment Research, for instance, forecasts 8% growth in 2009.

“China is being hit over the head by both the global crisis and the domestic slowdown,” says Stephen Green, economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai.

Exports account for nearly 38% of China’s economic output. JPMorgan Chase calculates that Chinese exports fall 5.7 percentage points every time global economic growth shrinks by a percentage point. And the IMF is predicting that global growth will drop 2 percentage points — from 5% last year to 3% in 2009. Chinese appliance maker Haier has already seen export growth drop to 10% the first three quarters of this year from 30% a year earlier, the official English-language China Daily newspaper reported.

What happens to China has big implications globally: China contributed 17% of world economic growth last year, the same as the United States, according to the United Nations.

Home prices collapsing

The Chinese economy is absorbing another blow beyond crumbling exports: collapsing home prices. Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., reckons a slowdown in construction could shave another 1 to 2 percentage points off China’s economic growth.

“The property bubble is already starting to burst,” says Yan Yu, a business management scholar at Peking University, researching the export center of Dongguan in southern Guangdong province. “House prices here in Dongguan have fallen by up to 50% this year,” leaving many homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

“People have worked all their lives and believed the hype and bought overvalued properties, then saw their savings vanish,” says independent economist Andy Xie in Shanghai. “That carries more political risk” than rising joblessness.

The good news: The forecast growth rates are still pretty impressive by any other economy’s standards; Chinese exports have proved surprisingly resilient, growing nearly 22% in September from a year earlier; and the government in Beijing is sitting on enough cash — $1.8 trillion in foreign exchange reserves — to go on a spending spree if needed to rescue the Chinese economy from catastrophe.

“Chinese authorities appear to be well aware of the global economic situation,” JPMorgan Chase reported this month. The bank expects government to turn the spigot on spending, quadrupling the budget deficit to the equivalent of 2% of economic output from 0.5% this year.

The authorities aren’t going to save everyone. The Chinese government has put pressure on small firms that foul the environment, pay miserly wages and turn out cheap products. “Beijing no longer wants to be the world’s sweatshop for junk,” CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets says in a recent report.

First, China cut tax breaks for exporters and imposed new export taxes on polluters, even targeting producers of disposable chopsticks. Then it introduced a labor law in January, requiring companies to give workers written contracts and making it harder for them to lay off employees or to hire informal part-time help.

The combination of tougher regulations, weakening exports, rising costs and a stronger Chinese currency has hammered thousands of small factories. The pain has been especially agonizing in Guangdong, a low-cost manufacturing center across the border from Hong Kong in southern China.

Guangdong’s exports rose just 14% the first seven months of 2008 after growing 27% a year earlier. Industrial profits were up just 4% this year through May, compared with 49% a year earlier and puny compared with 21% growth nationwide. “Guangdong’s weak performance is a signal of the government’s determination to restructure the low-value-added export process sector and to force out of business firms that abuse labor and the environment,” CLSA concluded.

Trouble in toyland

Firms that were already struggling with narrow profit margins have been squeezed. More than half of all China’s toy exporters — 3,631 firms — shut their doors the first half of the year, the official Xinhua news agency reported. “Many toy factories have gone bankrupt this year,” says Luo Yunzhang, founder of toy exporter Guangzhou Sixiren Toy, which makes playground equipment for Ohio-based Little Tikes, among other products.

“We saw exports start to dip in May, when the government began restricting businessmen’s visits ahead of the (August) Olympic Games. … Now the global crisis is causing problems. When people are in difficulties, they spend less on things like toys,” Luo says. Luo predicts that Sixiren’s export revenue will drop by half this year, to $500,000.

China’s textile industry is also enduring a deep slump. Textile exports have been tumbling since March. More than 10,000 small textile manufacturers went out of business the first half of this year alone, the government says. “The global crisis is seriously affecting the local textile industry,” says Yu Xin of the China Chemical Fibers and Textile Consultancy in Hangzhou.

China’s 30-year economic boom has produced towns that specialize in one product. There are shoe towns, zipper towns, air conditioner towns and sock towns. Shaoxing — a city of 4.3 million long known in China for opera, rice wine and scenic river vistas — has sold itself as China’s Textile City.

The textile sector has been “an easy market, as it is not complicated, has low entry barriers and is a big employer,” says Standard Chartered’s Green. The local government gives tax breaks, and the industry has benefited from having a large number of suppliers and trained workers close by.

For a while, River Dragon looked like one of the winners. After working as a clerk at another firm, Tao started the company in 2003 with his wife, Yan, and four colleagues. River Dragon went public in Singapore two years ago, and Tao bought another textile firm last year, hoping the acquisition would give River Dragon the heft to list on Nasdaq. In July, Yan, the company CEO, announced that River Dragon had landed a $10 million contract to supply apparel to 76 U.S. universities. But the deal proved a mirage. The end came quickly. A day after the factory stopped production, River Dragon stock was dropped from the Singapore exchange. Corporate documents are missing, and Tao and Yan are long gone.

“I think they are still on the run in China,” says Fang, the supplier. He says he was stiffed for more than $860,000 when River Dragon went under.

Keeping society ’stable’

About 300 suppliers and creditors descended on the River Dragon complex, looting warehouses in the hopes of salvaging something. Hundreds of workers demonstrated in the streets, demanding back pay for August and September. Worried about the unrest, the local government coughed up cash. “The government paid the workers to keep society stable,” textile analyst Yu says.

As their export orders dry up, Chinese manufacturers are likely to look for customers at home in China or in other emerging markets such as the Middle East and Africa. “Soon we will see vicious price competition between companies who have lost exports,” Green says.

In Guangdong, toymaker Luo hopes to push domestic sales up to $1.5 million this year from $1 million in 2007.

“The situation in the U.S. and other countries will not turn around quickly,” he says. “We must rely more on the domestic market, as Chinese consumers increasingly have money to spend on toys. Profits are very thin in the toy business, both in export and domestic sales. I prefer exports. … Domestic sales involve more work. There are more customers. But their orders are small.”

Independent economist Xie says China became overly dependent on demand from the U.S. and Europe that was stoked by too much borrowed money and inflated asset values. “It’s all coming to an end,” he says. “You need to look elsewhere for livelihood. Americans cannot spend money anymore.”

Contributing: Sunny Yang. Paul Wiseman reported from Hong Kong.

(USA TODAY)

The Chinese-made regional jet, Modem Ark (MA) 60 was launched for the maiden domestic commercial flight in the northern port city of Tianjin on Sunday.

Carried by Okair Airlines, the flight marked the start of the domestic commercial operation of MA 60, said Xu Chaoquan, senior official with the General Administration of Aviation. It also marks the breaking of the foreign-made airplane’s monopoly in China.

The Chinese-made regional jet, Modem Ark (MA) 60, was launched for the first domestic commercial flight in Tianjin on Oct. 19, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
Produced by the Xi’an Aircraft Industry Company (XAC), a major Chinese aircraft producer, MA 60 is designed for short and medium-range commuter services. China owns the independent Intellectual Property Rights.

Due to its low operational and maintenance costs, MA 60 has been sold quite well in Africa and south east Asia since 2005.

To meet the rising domestic demand for regional jets, the Beijing-based Okair Airlines and the Kunming-based Ying An Airlines gave XAC orders for 10 and 60 MA 60 planes respectively last year.

Modem Ark (MA) 60 is seen in the Tianjin Binhai nternational Airport. (Xinhua Photo)
So far XAC has received orders and intention contracts for 136 MA 60 planes from the clients at home and abroad.

China is expected to need 800 regional jets in the following 20years. XAC said it would enhance the MA 60 output while promoting MA 600 in the market and accelerating the development of MA 700 so as to foster the regional jet brand of MA series.

Source: Xinhua

China looks to Africa, Africa seems to like the attention
By KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN
THE NATION
Gabarone, Botswana
Published on October 21, 2008

THE first sign I saw after the plane touched down at Sereste Khama International Airport in Gabrone, Botswana was “Zhongguo Suidian” or “SinoHydro”, right at the end of the tarmac. For the next three days, in one of the richest countries on the African continent, I would encounter dozens of Chinese experts, businessmen and traders. And seven Chinese restaurants.

“Ni hao ma?” Kilaboga, a young security guard in front of a UK bank, greeted me in pu-tung-hua, thinking I was Chinese. We struck up a conversation after I told him that I came from Thailand.

“The Chinese people are not prejudiced against us, we feel good,” he said. His sentiment was shared by other Botswanans I met during my short stay. In conversations with local people, the impression of China is generally positive. They said that the Chinese are in the country to help build low-cost housing, schools, roads, hydro-electric plants and other power plants. Of course, they are also heavily involved in other things such as mining, trading and catering. China is also Asia’s largest diamond importer, each year bringing in gems from Africa worth about US$3 billion.

When I asked local people if they had any idea how many Chinese lived in the country, nobody seemed to know. A Chinese businessman told me there are at least 10,000 Chinese living in Botswana, which is about the same size as France or Kenya but with a population of only 1.8 million. Neighbouring South Africa has over 200,000 Chinese residents after Pretoria switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1994.

In the 1950s and 60s, China’s foreign policy towards Africa was influenced heavily by ideology. Beijing supported the independence struggles in Africa, and economic assistance was given to several newly independent African countries as part of China’s foreign policy based on Mao Zedong’s “Theory of Three”. After the Cultural Revolution, Chinese assistance was cut back as domestic woes kept its revolutionary zeal at bay. But some of the Chinese technicians and their families stayed behind. As a result, several thousand Chinese have become residents, bridging the gap between China and Africa. Now, they are being joined by a new wave of migrants from China’s multinational companies and government agencies.

In Gabrone, the Chinese community is considered an economic driving force. There is a Chinese high school, numerous Chinese shops and seven Chinese restaurants that serve distinctive foods from Sichuan and Guangdong.

Although small- and medium-size Chinese companies ventured to Africa long before the new China came of age, they never made headlines. Another wave of Chinese business adventurers came after the 1997 economic crisis in Asia. At the time, Southeast Asia was no longer seen as a prime investment area for China, so they looked to the African continent.

Bonolo, a receptionist at the Gabrone Sun Hotel, greeted me with “Ni hao ma?” when I arrived at the desk. It was the second Chinese greeting I’d heard in succession. These days in Africa, any Asian face is perceived as Chinese. Bonolo said that local people like the Chinese residents here because they treat them as equals. But he had one complaint, which I found odd at first: that the Chinese community seldom used local banks. “They tend to bank their money at home,” said Bonolo. Other than that, he said, local people are quite happy for the Chinese to be here.

On the return flight to Johannesburg, I began thinking more about Bonolo’s complaint. I got an answer from a young Chinese manager sitting next to me. Huang Gai, from Beijing, worked for a Chinese multinational operating in Gabrone.

“Being Chinese, you stand out among the crowd, wherever you go. When you queue up at banks or in front of an ATM, people notice you easily,” Huang explained. “That can make you a target.”

If a Chinese visits local banks often, he or she could be followed by potential robbers because they are perceived as well to do.

“In the early days there were cases of robberies,” Huang said. “As such, local Chinese residents have developed their own secret savings system to avoid muggings.”

At weekends, Chinese residents often spend leisure time in one of the three five-star hotels in the capital, listening to music and dining. At the Sun Hotel, Botswanans come for Chinese food, which one young client called “the magic wok”.

At the Chinese food counters - open kitchens designed for clients to take part in the cooking process - diners can choose from a variety of vegetables and meats, which the cooks then stir fry for them with soy sauce, oyster sauce and chilli sauce. The most popular Chinese dishes are fried noodles with assorted vegetables and meat.

Elsewhere in Africa, China’s growing investment and development assistance have not yet created the kind of resentment or criticism that often is portrayed by the media in other parts of the world. Kwame Karibari, director of the Media Foundation West Africa, in Ghana, said that Africa has not been colonised by the Chinese, so there is no resentment.

“They come to make money. There are only a few problems related to small traders in Ghana,” he said, adding that traders sometimes got into brawls because of business competition and conflicts.

David Makali, director of the Media Institute Kenya, concurred that in Kenya, there is no ill-feeling towards China. But he said African journalists need to learn more about the role China is playing in Africa’s overall economic development.

Unlike the 1950s, when all the Chinese programmes in Africa were funded by the Chinese Communist Party, now China’s state enterprises and the private sector are at the frontline of Chinese involvement in Africa.

“African journalists need to know more about the nature and structure of these projects and analyse trends,” Makali said, referring to China’s investment in East Africa. He said that in the future, China will become a mainstream issue in African politics.

(nationmultimedia)

Cadfund was established as a result of the 2006 Beijing Summit on China-Africa cooperation, where Chinese President Hu Jintao promised to improve Sino-Africa ties.

(Geostrategy)

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) hosts a welcoming ceremony in honor of his Nigerian counterpart Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in Beijing, China, Feb. 28, 2008. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

The Federal Government’s determination to increase the nation’s energy capacity received a major boost in far away Shanghai, China where Shenzhen Energy Group pledged to invest a $300 million power plant in the country.
The commitment of the Chinese energy firm came on a  day Engr. Mustafa Bello, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) urged investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s favourable business climate.
Ms. Cissy Jiang, representative of the Shenzhen Energy Group, disclosed the plans of the Chinese firm at the 7th Nigeria-China Business and Investment Forum (NCBIF), which got underway yesterday at the Purple Mountain Hotel, Shanghai, China.
Jiang said the energy group decided to capitalise on the government’s investment-friendly incentives to expand its operations into Nigeria and by so doing, hopes to add to a sizeable number of Chinese companies in Nigeria.
She explained that a number of Chinese investors such as Chief Jacob Woods, Deputy President of China Africa Business Council (CABC), had given testimonials on the benefits of investing in Nigeria, and that when weighed against the risks, Nigeria presents a much more favourable investment climate than its competitors.
Jiang said contrary to the information being peddled in the international media, the reports from Chinese investors in Nigeria is that the nation’s security and security of investment was much improved, and as such, the company will be willing to partner with the Federal Government in its emergency intervention in the power sector.
In his presentation, Bello acknowledged the trail blazing efforts of the Xiguang Guandong Group in setting up a Free Trade Zone in Ogun State at a cost of $500 million and the Chinese investment in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
He also advised Chinese investors to continue to partner with Nigeria in its development efforts, as the country remains the most attractive destination for foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa, with a cumulative potential of over 300 million consumers.

He assured them that the NIPC would continue to deliver on its mandate of providing the necessary support to foreign investors, especially with the introduction of the one-stop investment centre (OSIC), which integrates over 36 government and private-sector organisations at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Also present were Mr. Sina Agboluaje, Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Mallam Lamis Dikko, Executive Director, Unity Bank, and the Financial Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Tukur Mani, who led the Nigerian delegation.

Others who made presentations yesterday were Mr. Lanre Fagbohun, Managing Director (Internal) of BankPHB, Mr. Femi Bakre of First Bank, Bola Ajibode of Stanbic IBTC and Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, Chairman of Urban Shelter Limited.
The 7th Nigeria-China Business and Investment Forum continues today, with visits to some Chinese industrial companies located in Shanghai.

China signed Friday a trade deal with Senegal to offer zero-tariff treatment to more than 400 categories of goods imported from Senegal.

The agreement was inked by Chinese Ambassador to Senegal Lu Shaye and Senegalese Minister for Commerce Mamadou Diop in Dakar, Senegal’s capital.

The trade deal will elevate their bilateral trade and economic ties to a new stage and will also foster people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, said Lu.

The two peoples will benefit from the agreement which raised the number of tariff-free Senegalese export products to China from about 190 in 2005 to more than 600, the Chinese ambassador added.

Diop said that the agreement was of great significance for the two countries to strengthen their economic and trade cooperation.

Friendly bilateral cooperation in various fields, particularly in trade and economy, has been booming since China and Senegal resumed diplomatic ties in October 2005, the minister said.

More Senegalese are now running businesses or have started their own enterprises in China, he said, adding that he welcomed more Chinese businessmen to make investment in Senegal.

At the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2006, the Chinese government pledged to further open China’s market to exports from Africa’s least developed countries by raising the number of products enjoying zero-tariff treatment from190 to 440.

(XINHUA)

The African Culture in Focus 2008, a series of China-Africa cultural exchange programs highlighting the culture and arts from Africa, will be staged in Shenzhen from Oct. 23 through Nov. 2.

A total of 147 cultural officials and artists from 25 African countries, including Angola, Eritrea, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Rwanda, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Sierra Leone, will be invited to Shenzhen to attend a series of gala events.

Six African countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, will send arts troupes to perform in the city. Senegal, Gabon and Egypt will also organize special exhibitions with historical and cultural relics and folk handcrafts from each country.

These will be the first large-scale cultural exchange programs that have been conducted since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2006. Their goal is to enhance the cultural understanding between China and African countries.

Meanwhile, book shows and art exhibitions featuring the African theme will be organized.

The gala events are jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, General Administration of Press and Publication, and the Guangdong Provincial Government.

African Culture in Focus 2008 is also a part of this year’s Shenzhen International Tourism and Culture Festival, which held its grand opening at Window of the World on Thursday.

Running for two months, the festival consists of 16 events, including the 2008 Grand Prix of F1 Powerboat World Championship in Nanshan District from Oct. 25 to 26, the China Cup International Regatta in Dapeng Bay from Oct. 24 to 27, the 7th Shenzhen Gold Coastal Tourism Festival in Yantian District through November, and the Hakkanese Folk Culture Week in Longgang District in December.

(Shenzhen Daily)

South African navy officers receive flowers as their frigate SAS SPIOENKOP arrives at the Yangtze River wharf in Shanghai, in eastern China on Thursday afternoon, October 16th, 2008. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

The South African Navy’s escort ship SAS SPIOENKOP, led by Rear Admiral Higgs, arrived at the Yangtze River wharf Thursday afternoon, marking the first visit to China by an African warship.

As one of the activities marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China-South Africa diplomatic ties, the warship’s visit was warmly welcomed by China.

“It’s honorable to visit China as representative of South Africa’s Navy.I believe this visit will consolidate friendship between the two countries the armed forces and the peoples,” Higgs said at the welcoming ceremony.

South African officers and sailors walk off their frigate SAS SPIOENKOP, which arrived in Shanghai on Thursday, October 16th, 2008. The crew plan to stay in Shanghai for five days. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

During their five-day stay in Shanghai, the South African soldiers will play a friendly football game with their Chinese counterparts, and visit the Oriental Pearl Television Tower as well as the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center.

The escort ship will open for public viewing on Oct.19, according to sources.

The South African Navy’s frigate SAS SPIOENKOP arrives at the Yangtze River wharf in Shanghai, in eastern China on Thursday afternoon, October 16th, 2008. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

“This is a trip to return the visit China’s navy made to South Africa eight years ago. The visit took place on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of two states’ relationship, and was aimed at enhancing the friendship,” the South African ambassador to China Ndumiso N. Ntshinga said.

The visiting warship was put into active service in March 2006. It is 121 meters long, 16.34 meters wide, and is one of the most sophisticated warships in South Africa’s navy fleet. There are 115 officers and soldiers aboard.

(XINHUA)

TWO ships containing 702 tonnes of construction equipment from China and Belgium are expected to be offloaded at the Dar es Salaam port, and then be transported by road to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

An official from the DRC President’s office, Mr Kazimil Kamba Wakambala told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam on Thursday that the equipment includes tractors, tippers, and some agricultural equipment.

Mr Wakambala said that they had expected that they would receive the goods on Wednesday, but it was not possible due to ship congestion at the port. He said that the idea of ordering such equipment was put forth by DRC President Joseph Kabila who wants to revolutionise the country by improving agriculture and infrastructures.

“The president wants to reconstruct DRC to be like China, he wants the country to be identified as China of Africa,” Mr Wakambala explained.

He added that the equipment were mainly focused on the reconstruction of roads and improvement of agriculture in provinces of Katanga, Kasai, Eastern Manyema, Eastern Kivu, Western Kivu and Kisangani.

A 10-people delegation sent by President Kabila to Dar es Salaam to receive the consignment include five officials from the president’s office, one from Congo Road agency identified as (Office’ de Route),one from Congo Revenue Authority (OFIDA) and three journalists.

Mr Wakambala said there would be a short ceremony of receiving the equipment to be held at the port, the function which will also be attended by the DRC Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Juma Alfani Mpango.
(Habalileo)

One of China’s first group of solar-powered cars went on display last Friday at the 29th Zhejiang International Bicycles and Electric-powered Cars Exhibition in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou.com.cn reported.

The mini car produced by Zhejiang’s 001 Group was designed to target the increasingly serious energy crisis. The group has so far produced over 10 such cars and each of them will sell for 38,000 yuan (US$5,560).

Sheng Gangxiang, an engineer at the Zhejiang 001 Group, told reporters that the vehicles have solar panels on their roofs that turn the sun’s rays into energy to get them going. The car can absorb 95 percent of the solar energy it takes in, however, it can only transform 14 to 17 percent of that into electricity, roughly the same as solar cars manufactured elsewhere.

The solar-driven car can travel 150 kilometers after 30 hours of solar charging. But an only one-hour charge will get the car going for only five kilometers.

At present, solar energy is mostly used in water heaters in China.

(gasgoo)

China will work together with African countries to give full play to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), a senior official said before leaving for the 6th FOCAC senior official meetings in Egypt.

“Promoting the China-Africa new type strategic partnership serves as the common aspiration of the two sides,” Xu Jinghu, director-general of the Department of African Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.

“The two sides had achieved a comprehensive consensus under the FOCAC framework, which was symbolized as a banner leading the friendship development.”

Xu, also secretary-general of the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the forum, put forward five suggestions to fully display the FOCAC’s leading role in China-Africa ties.

First, China will make efforts to maintain the good momentum of high-level exchange, while continuing to enhance dialogue and negotiations with the African members to cement mutual understanding and trust.

Second, it will strengthen the two sides’ cooperation in economic and social development, with an emphasis on implementing eight measures for China-Africa practical cooperation, which was announced by President Hu Jintao at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC in November 2006.

China will also outline the key areas of cooperation in the future, and pay more attention to people’s livelihood in Africa, Xu said.

In addition, the country will keep a close eye on the forum’s sustainable development, where both sides need to increase cooperation in various areas and at more levels.

The last point she expressed was to improve the mechanism of the forum to adapt to today’s international situation, and make efforts to make full use of the present mechanism.

China will always abide by the principles of sincerity and friendliness, equality, mutual support and common development in contacts with African countries, Xu said.

The FOCAC was jointly proposed and established by China and more than 40 African countries in 2000.

The sixth FOCAC senior official meeting is in Cairo on Oct. 18-19.

(XINHUA)

Robben Island, the wind-swept site where Nelson Mandela spent so many years in jail, has been home to thousands of lepers and political prisoners. But now it’s struggling to cope with its latest inhabitants — rabbits.

South Africa’s iconic tourist attraction will be closed for the first two weeks in November so authorities can hold a “humane culling program” in a desperate battle against the bunnies.

The precise number of rabbits on Robben Island is unknown, but there are so many they threaten to permanently damage the island’s sensitive vegetation and starve themselves and all other animals, according to Robben Island Museum interim chief executive Seelan Naidoo.

“Immediate action will be taken to avert an ecological crisis on the island,” Naidoo said.

The Society for the Protection of Animals said in the absence of a feasible alternative, it would reluctantly monitor the operation.

“It’s a very unsavory issue to have to be involved with,” society spokeswoman Sarah Scarth said Wednesday. “But having reached this decision, we have a responsibility to make sure it is done in a humane manner.”

State veterinarians, environmentalists and volunteers will coax the rabbits into cages and give them lethal injections. In a gesture to animal rights activists, a small number of rabbits will be sterilized and released back onto the island.

The island just outside Cape Town was once a leper colony, and during South Africa’s apartheid era, a maximum security fortress for political prisoners. Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison there.

Robben Island became a national monument and museum in 1997 and the United Nations declared it as a world heritage site in 1999. It attracts hundreds of visitors each day, all hoping to see the small cell where Mandela, who became South Africa’s first black president, was incarcerated.

It is also a biological treasure trove, hosting about 132 bird species, including the protected black oyster catcher and about 7,000 breeding pairs of African penguins.

In 2006, museum authorities killed nearly 100 wild cats on the island, saying they were an alien species that violated U.N. heritage rules. That made the rabbit population explode.

The rabbits are just the latest problem to batter Robben Island.

Three top managers were suspended in July for alleged financial irregularities and the museum has a large budget deficit. A new tourist ferry has had numerous problems and strong winds and rough seas from June to September caused a high number of boat cancellations.

(Yahoo News)

More than 100 tonnes of ivory will go on auction in four southern African countries in two weeks, in the first sale of stockpiled elephant ivory in nearly a decade, wildlife groups said Wednesday.

The sales were approved in July by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and auctions have now been scheduled in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, wildlife officials said.

China and Japan are expected to be among the biggest buyers, after CITES agreed over the last two years to allow them to take part in legal auctions.

Both countries had to first provide assurances that they would closely monitor their domestic markets, CITES said on its website.

Animal welfare groups say the two countries are among the world’s biggest destinations for illegal ivory sales.

CITES said that all proceeds of the sale are to be used for elephant conservation products. The last sale in 1999 earned five million dollars, it added.

CITES banned international ivory sales in 1989, but agreed to the earlier auction after judging that southern Africa’s herds were healthy and well-managed.

The ivory stocks up for auction come from elephants that have died from natural causes or from culling of herds, when animals are killed to prevent overpopulation.

Each of the four African countries will hold a single auction, staggered three days apart, beginning with nine tonnes of ivory on sale in Namibia on October 28, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said in the statement.

Botswana will then auction 44 tonnes on October 31, followed by a four-tonne auction in Zimbabwe and a 51-tonne auction in South Africa, the group said.

David Mabunda, the head of South Africa’s National Parks service said that nearly half of the ivory on auction in the country had been stockpiled since before 1994, when culling was still practiced.

The rest was obtained from elephants who died of natural causes or tusks that broke off, he told the Sapa news agency.

IFAW criticised the sale, warning that even legal auctions encourage poaching.

“Even though the ivory was not obtained through illegal poaching activities, these legal sales only encourage poachers to launder their illegal stocks,” said Michael Wamithi, the head of IFAW’s elephant programme.

“We have no doubt that flooding the market with over 100 tonnes of ivory will put this endangered species in even further jeopardy,” he said in a statement.

(Yahoo News)

A couple in rural Cambodia has terminated their 18-year marriage with a divorce settlement that entailed sawing in two the wooden house they once shared, villagers said Friday.

The husband, 42-year-old Moeun Sarim, has taken away with him all the bits and pieces of his half a house, said his 35-year-old wife, Vat Navy.

“Very strange, but this is what my husband wanted,” she said by phone from a village about 62 miles east of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. She said they ended their marriage last month.

“He brought his relatives and used saws to cut the house in half,” she said, adding that she now owns the other half that is still standing. The house is made from wood with a tile roof and propped up on wooden pillars, a typical style for a Cambodian country home.

She said her estranged husband and his relatives, after ripping apart half of the house, carried all the debris to his parents’ house nearby.

She said the divorce was prompted by her husband’s jealousy about her alleged relationship with a policeman in the village. She denied having an extramarital affair.

“He wanted a divorce, and I said, `Let’s divorce,’” she said.

The husband could not be reached for comment.

Bou Bout, a village chief, said local officials and police were present as witnesses the day the couple split their 20-by-24 1/2 foot house into half.

“Local officials tried three times to get them to mend their differences, but the husband would not budge,” Bou Bout said by phone.

(cbsnews)

“China has been in the forefront in forging South-South cooperation,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told Xinhua in a recent interview, when asked about her comment on China’s development since it embraced an open and reform policy in the late 1970s.

In the last 30 years, there has been a lot of cooperation between China, in its pursuit of the open policy, and other countries, particularly developing ones, she said to Xinhua Thursday.

“In the last few years, we have seen China engaging more and more with the outside world, holding meetings to forge partnerships, all with a view to advancing the social and economic agenda which definitely feeds into the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” she said.

Migiro said UN chief Ban Ki-moon also appreciates China’s contribution to the priorities he has been working on by advancing the goal of development.

“China is a key player in the world… and has played its role,” she said.

As a Tanzania national, the ex-foreign minister of Tanzania gave witness to the relationship between China and African countries, including Tanzania, long before she joined the Foreign Ministry.

“I saw it grow,” she said. “It started in the 70s, and we saw China contributing to the economic development in many countries including Tanzania in the area of infrastructure development.”

“Coming from Tanzania, I cannot but mention the immense support China gives to Tanzania and Zambia in building the railway, which is known as the Tazara, as many Chinese would know it by that name– the Tanzania-Zambia Railway,” said Migiro.

China has also supported education, water availability, engineering sector, not only in Tanzania, but in other countries as well, she said.

China is increasing its support and its coordination with other countries, she said, citing the recent China-Africa Forum as “one indication that China was really resolved in increasing its partnership with African countries.”

The deputy UN chief also commended China for contributing immensely to the UN peacekeeping efforts around the world.

“I do hope that China will continue to engage positively for purposes of contributing to peace, security and development,” she added.

(XINhua.net)