In the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese engineers were hard at work throughout Africa, constructing stadiums, laying roads and building hospitals in the cold war battle for the hearts and minds of third world citizens. The politics and revolutionary idealism behind these projects faded in the 1980s but a fast-growing China with a voracious appetite for resources is now back with a vengeance.
Almost every African country today bears examples of China's emerging presence, from oil fields in the east to farms in the south.
From 2002 to 2003, two-way trade climbed 50 percent to $18.5 billion - the fastest growth China has seen with any geographical area - and is tipped to soar to $30 billion by 2006.
China's rampant economic expansion, which gives it a huge appetite for raw materials, is the major factor driving its long march across the African continent. The second biggest consumer of oil after the United States, China is searching the world for new sources of energy, and Africa is fast becoming an important supplier. China has oil partnerships in Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Angola and Gabon, and is exploring a collaboration in Kenya.
Beijing has pressed history to promote its economic agenda, attempting to win African sympathy by emphasizing the common history of exploitation that China and African nations have suffered at the hands of Western colonialists. This is a common theme in the pages of African newspapers, where commentators argue that Western investors exploit Africa, while Chinese companies tend to invest in businesses that are beneficial.
Still, there is some debate among Africans over whether China is exploiting or benefiting their continent. The Chinese are busy developing much-needed African infrastructure: roads and rail lines in Ethiopia, Sudan and Rwanda; a new hospital in Sudan; a farm and a bridge across the Nile. But at what cost?
Moeletsi Mbeki, deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs, wrote recently on the Web site AllAfrica.com that China "is both a tantalizing opportunity and a terrifying threat to South Africa." On the one hand, he said that China was the tonic that mineral-rich but economically ailing South Africa needs. But he added that exports from China and Hong Kong to his country are double those from the rest of Africa and almost double what South Africa exports to China. He called the trade relations between South Africa and China "a replay of the old story of South Africa's trade with Europe."
Mbeki added, "We sell them raw materials and they sell us manufactured goods with a predictable result - an unfavorable trade balance."
Meanwhile, however, many African nations are pleased that no political strings are attached to China's friendship, with the obvious exception that they must not recognize Taiwan and must affirm the "one China" policy.
He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, says that China and Africa share the view that countries should not meddle in each other's affairs. "We don't believe that human rights should stand above sovereignty," He says. "We have a different view on this, and African countries share our view."
Zimbabwe is a case in point. After Americans and Europeans withdrew from the country because of the government's destructive land reform program and poor human rights record, China stepped in to work with the embattled, and resource-rich, African nation.
Sudan is another example. China National Petroleum Corporation won an oil exploitation bid there in 1995, and when Washington cut ties two years later, the Chinese were ready to fill the void left by retreating Western oil companies. They helped to develop oil fields, built refineries, and laid two oil pipelines. Sudan, which was an oil importer before the Chinese arrived, now earns $2 billion in oil exports each year, half of which goes to China.
But more important for Sudan is Beijing's political support. China has vowed to veto any sanctions imposed against Sudan. When the UN Security Council tabled a resolution in September to punish Sudan for failing to stop atrocities in the troubled western region of Darfur, it was forced to water down the proposal to avoid a Chinese veto.
International pressure is growing for China to use its political influence to pressure Sudan, which critics say is using its oil dollars to fund the military actions against its black African population in Darfur. Some observers say that China, which relishes its relatively new position as an international mover, will not want to be seen as an obstacle to the solution of the problem in Sudan.
If sanctions were to block oil from Iran and Sudan, China would be forced to scramble to find other sources, which could be difficult. The question is whether Beijing is willing to sacrifice oil and its African partnerships to salvage its image as a responsible global force.