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               China-Africa Relations Expanding Beyond Cash Deals

   by Anita Powell

   China's president Xi Jinping is in South Africa for a China-Africa
   forum aimed at deepening economic and security ties. Such events are
   usually accompanied by top-dollar deals, but that there is also a new
   undercurrent shaping China-Africa relations.

   How much does Africa mean to China? If an announcement by South African
   President Jacob Zuma is any indication, a lot.

   "We have just witnessed the signing of 26 agreements that are worth 94
   billion rand."

   That's $6.5 billion in deals with South Africa alone - and it's big
   numbers like that that have come to dominate discussions about
   China-Africa relations.

   In one of 10 agreements signed Wednesday in Zimbabwe, China dropped
   $1.2 billion for a power project. And Nigeria's president plans to ask
   China in coming days for another $20 billion for rail and power
   projects.

   Moving beyond money

   But China's foreign minister Wang Yi said Thursday in South Africa's
   capital that the relationship is about much more than money, and that
   President Xi is much more than just a gift giver for African leaders.

   China-Africa cooperation, he said, through an interpreter, is about
   "making sure that this world will be fairer, more secure and more
   inclusive."

   To that end, the Chinese government has recently taken a new tack in
   Africa, pledging military aid to the African Union. China sent
   peacekeepers to northern Mali in 2013 and to South Sudan this year. And
   China recently announced plans to build a logistical navy base in the
   tiny East African nation of Djibouti.

   New era
   Analyst Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa
   at Deloitte Frontier Advisory, said Africa-China relations are
   evolving.

   He described it as "China-Africa 3.0." In the 1960s, he explained,
   China-Africa relations were about ideology as Africa was caught in a
   capitalist-communist tug of war. In the 90s, that evolved into a
   Chinese binge on African commodities.

   ''
   What's changed, he said, is that commodity prices are down. China's
   economy has also slowed, and the nation has accordingly slowed down its
   investment in Africa by as much as 40 percent, according to official
   figures.

   "It's a very different environment. So I'm quite interested to see how
   this will play out and how [the] Chinese state capital is viewing the
   continent, and then how the continent responds to this going forward,"
   Davies said.

   Demand for resources
   Up to now, he said, China-Africa relations have had more to do with
   China's appetite for resources than political interest.

   "The real story for me is not so much the supply side, that is the
   supply side of capital coming out of China, but it's more the demand
   side for resources going into China, which has really underpinned
   African growth," said Davies.

   According to Davies, the real benefits and quantitative growth Africa's
   experienced in the past decade is because of China's demand for the
   continent's commodities. And that, he said, has absolutely nothing to
   do with capital support or geopolitics.

   The coming talks between Chinese officials and African leaders are
   crucial to determining what comes next, Davies added. And a preview
   will be coming soon, as the China-Africa forum launches Friday in
   Johannesburg.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/china-africa-forum/3086355.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/china-africa-forum/3086355.html