China’s voracious appetite for resources of Africa

While the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been involved in sub-Saharan
Africa for decades, its recent rise as a global industrial power has given it strong
incentives to expand its role. A more comprehensive outreach to Africa has been
evident at least since 2000, when the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (CACF) was
established. China has been actively pursuing energy-related contracts, trade
agreements, investment deals, accords on scientific and technical cooperation, and
tourism agreements with countries around the sub-Saharan region. High level African
delegations visit Beijing regularly, and top Chinese leaders pay frequent official visits
to Africa. China has sent significant numbers of technical personnel, teachers, and
physicians to Africa, and Africans travel to China for education and training,
including military training. China-Africa trade is growing, and Chinese firms are
engaged in large infrastructure projects in several countries. China is a significant
supplier of military equipment to Africa as well.
Analysts agree that China’s voracious appetite for resources, particularly
petroleum, is the principal motive for its expanding outreach to Africa. Nearly thirty
percent of China’s oil imports are estimated to come from Africa, and the proportion
is expected to grow in the years ahead. China’s continuing drives to demonstrate its
importance as a global actor and to isolate Taiwan, which maintains official relations
with seven sub-Saharan countries, are also motivating factors. China is deeply
involved in Sudan, where the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has
developed an oil field in the southern part of the country and constructed a 900-mile
pipeline to the Red Sea so that the oil can be sent to China. Angola is China’s largest
sub-Saharan oil supplier, and China has extended a $2 billion line of credit to the
Angolan government while expanding its involvement in the oil sector. Ties have
also been strengthened with oil-rich Nigeria, which has entered into a “strategic
partnership” with China and is purchasing Chinese-built jet fighters. In July 2005,
Chinese leaders feted Robert Mugabe, president of resource-rich Zimbabwe, during
an official visit to Beijing, and President Hu Jintao called him an “old friend of the
Chinese people.” Western governments have sought to isolate Mugabe’s
government, a persistent human rights violator; but China is providing arms to
Zimbabwe, and Chinese firms are active in telecommunications and other fields.
Whether the United States should mount a challenge to China’s growing role
in Africa is a subject of debate in the policy-oriented community, but the prevailing
view appears to be that China’s involvement does not at present endanger U.S.
interests and influence in the region. It may even offer certain benefits for Africa
and for the United States if dealt with through cooperation and diplomacy, some
believe. A U.S. official testifying in July 2005 advocated cooperation and
consultation with China in Africa, as well as dialogue over issues, such as Sudan and
Zimbabwe, on which the two countries disagree. Nonetheless, some observers fear
that China’s Africa policies are tending to strengthen repressive regimes. Some also
worry that Chinese competition for Africa’s petroleum resources could prove harmful
to U.S. interests, and that U.S. business generally could lose opportunities in Africa
because of Chinese competition. This report will be updated as events warrant.
file.wikileaks.org/file/crs/RL33055.pdf