Visits by Chinese leaders to developing countries don't usually make the headlines in North America. But last week's twelve-day, eight-country trip in Africa by Chinese President Hu Jintao sent alarm bells ringing in Washington and other Western capitals.

China-Africa trade

Africa's merchandise exports to China increased an average of 48 per cent per year from 1999 to 2004. Here's Africa's top five exports to China (and share of total):

• Oil: 62%
• Ores and metals: 17%
• Agricultural raw materials: 7%
• Manufactured materials: 6%
• Textiles, apparel, footwear: 5%

These are Africa's top five imports from China (and share of total):

• Textiles, apparel, footwear: 36%
• Machinery and transportation equipment: 33%
• Manufactured materials: 18%
• Ores and metals: 9%
• Agricultural raw materials: 3%

Source: Africa's silk road: China and India's new economic frontier by Harry G. Broadman. The World Bank, 2007.

The fear is that by showering Africa with investment, forgiving debt and hobnobbing with dictators — without so much as mentioning human-rights abuses — China may become the main player on the African continent and undermine pressure for reform on African regimes.

Just how important the African continent has become for the Chinese was made clear last October when China played host to 40 African nations in Beijing. Factories were closed to reduce pollution and traffic was reduced to a minimum to make the African leaders' stay as pleasant as possible, a sure sign of just how important this summit was for China.

China needs Africa's natural resources to fuel its exponential economic growth. With more than $60 billion worth of trade this year, China surpassed Brazil as Africa's third most important trading partner, behind the United States and France. But China does not want to jeopardize its new economic relations with African countries and has been wary of using its diplomatic clout on regimes such as Sudan. The buzzwords for Chinese diplomacy are soft power and harmonious relations.

Sudan the key stop

Still, China cannot totally ignore calls to become more active on the diplomatic front.

Sudanese leader Omar Al-Bashir, left, and Chinese President Hu Jintao inspect an honour guard in Khartoum, Sudan, Feb. 2, 2007. (Abd Raouf/Associated Press)

For China watchers, the most important stop on Hu's itinerary was Sudan. The United States and European countries were hoping he would pressure Sudanese leader Omar Al-Bashir to allow a United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping force to intervene in Darfur, in western Sudan. More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million displaced in the past four years in what many in the West consider genocide.

China, which buys two thirds of Sudan's oil and is the leading weapons supplier to the regime, has refused to vote on sanctions in the UN Security Council.

Hu, in an effort to maintain good relations with Sudan, wrote off $70 million in debt and provided a $13-million interest-free loan for a new presidential palace. However, the Chinese president did press Al-Bashir to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur. This was not reported in the Chinese official media, but it was welcomed outside China as a first step in the right direction.

The fact that some human-rights organizations were asking for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing if China does not pressure Khartoum shows China's relations are being increasingly scrutinized. Of course, there is a limit to what the West can expect of China. The Chinese government can hardly be expected to push for democratic and human-rights reforms it is not willing to implement at home.

Colonial virginity

China has traditionally justified its reluctance to get involved in the internal affairs of African and other countries by saying it wants to avoid being seen as a new colonial power. However, there are signs it is starting to lose its colonial virginity, especially in Africa. Hu had to cancel a visit to a copper mine in Zambia because there were fears local employees of a Chinese mining company were planning to protest safety and other work-related issues.

Zambian companies also accuse China of flooding street markets with cheap clothes. "They are not here to develop Zambia," a prominent Zambian legislator said. "They're here to develop China."

In Nigeria, Chinese oil workers are now being kidnapped by a local militia that accuses foreigners and the Nigerian government of plundering oil resources. South African President Thabo Mbeki — who met Hu during his trip — has warned against what he called a Chinese ‘neocolonial adventure' in Africa.

So, China's honeymoon of investment in Africa may be coming to a close as the Chinese discover that economic relations cannot be dissociated from diplomacy or good corporate behaviour.