Africans In China

China Railway Construction Corp has begun building a 2.2 billion dinars railway project in Libya, Libyan state media said on Thursday.

The 453 kilometre railway line will link the capital Tripoli with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s coastal home town of Sirte, and would connect Libya’s factories and plants to its ports, Libyan state news agency Jana said.

The railway line is part of a major Libyan plan to build a railway network linking it to other African states, including neighbouring Maghreb countries, Jana added.

Other foreign companies, including one unnamed Russian company, would be involved in the North African state’s countrywide railway plan, alongside the Chinese company, whose involvement marks the latest foray by a Chinese company into Africa.

China has been aggressively seeking trade and investment ties with a number of African countries in an effort to tap into energy and natural resources to help feed its booming economy.

Libya is one of China’s largest trading partners in Africa, with two-way trade estimated by Libyan officials at more than $2.0 billion during last year.

(Reuters)

The African Union’s top executive on Thursday expressed his concern over the prospect of an economic recession in China, a key trade partner and investor for the continent.

China’s economy has slowed sharply in recent months amid the global downturn and the World Bank has forecast growth of 7.5 percent for next year, down from 12 percent last year and the slowest expansion in nearly two decades.

“If you have a recession in China, which apparently will be the case, we will have a reduction in the demand of our raw materials,” AU Commission Chairman Jean-Ping told reporters.

“If it decreases in volume, it will also decrease in prices, so you can see the consequences for us,” he added.

Ping said he would head to Doha over the weekend for a donor conference amid concerns that the global financial crisis could curtail aid and investment for the world’s poorest continent.

“The African continent has only been receiving a small share of direct investment. If this investment is reduced, then it will be a catastrophe,” he said.

According to the African Union, trade between China and the continent reached 50 billion dollars (39.4 billion euros) in 2006, up from just a billion dollars four years earlier. The figure is expected to double by 2010.

(AFP