The communist Chinese leadership is hosting a really big business meeting in Beijing. There is much wealth to be spread around to friends.
People's Daily: Heads of state or government leaders from more than 40 African countries have confirmed their attendance at the upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Never too late to scramble: In the first week of November Chinese and more than 30 African leaders will gather at the first Sino-African summit in Beijing. And Chinese companies, most of them owned by the state, have been marching in the footsteps of their political leaders.
Now China wants commodities more than influence. Its economy has grown by an average of 9% a year over the past ten years, and foreign trade has increased fivefold. It needs stuff of all sorts—minerals, farm products, timber and oil, oil, oil. China alone was responsible for 40% of the global increase in oil demand between 2000 and 2004.
So it is with many African countries, fed up with the intrusiveness of Europeans and Americans fussing about corruption or torture and clamouring for accountability. Moreover, the World Bank and many Western donors were until recently shunning bricks-and-mortar aid in favour of health and education.
Sudanese president to attend: In an interview this week with a French newspaper, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said Chinese banks ignore human rights and environmental standards when lending in Africa. "We do not accept such criticism," Zhai Jun, an assistant foreign minister, said at a news conference. China believes no government "should interfere with other country’s human rights and internal affairs," Zhai said.
