China defends Africa investment as S.Africa deal reported
Friday, 14 May 2010
BEIJING, May 13 (AFP): A top Chinese commerce official has defended Beijing's investment policies in Africa amid reports of another giant deal, for a cement plant in South Africa, reports said today.
"China's presence in Africa is becoming more and more market driven, the actors operating there are diverse, there are many models, and the areas they are in are broad," Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying told the Wall Street Journal.
China has steadily built up trade and economic ties with Africa in recent years, drawing accusations in the West that it has taken a "neo-colonialist" attitude toward the continent.
Beijing also has been criticised for befriending pariah regimes in Sudan and Zimbabwe in a cynical bid to lock up supplies of resources needed to fuel expansion of its economy, the world's third largest.
"China's presence in Africa is becoming more and more market driven, the actors operating there are diverse, there are many models, and the areas they are in are broad," Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying told the Wall Street Journal.
China has steadily built up trade and economic ties with Africa in recent years, drawing accusations in the West that it has taken a "neo-colonialist" attitude toward the continent.
Beijing also has been criticised for befriending pariah regimes in Sudan and Zimbabwe in a cynical bid to lock up supplies of resources needed to fuel expansion of its economy, the world's third largest.