China

Equal measures of optimism and scepticism greeted China’s announcement of an agreement to build three oil refineries worth US$23 billion. The terms of the memorandum of understanding are clear; the...

When Gabon’s President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was alive, his ministers had nothing but praise for the nearly US$4 billion Bélinga iron ore mine and associated logistics projects, described...

Beijing’s relationship with the China International Fund is much clearer than it likes to admit. When the Hong Kong-registered CIF signed multibillion-dollar deals with pariah regimes in Guinea...

Oppositionist Michael Sata’s rhetoric against China is not slowing down Chinese investment plans ahead of Zambia’s national elections, which are due in 2011. Chinese companies operating Zambian mines will now have...

The China-Africa Development Fund’s expansion plans moved a step forward with the opening of a new branch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 30 March. The office will pursue greater cooperation...

The first cooperation agreement signed by the China-Africa Development Fund was with the Tianjin North China Geological Exploration Bureau, a state-run mining enterprise, in December 2007.

April 2009: the China-Africa Development Fund and YTO Group announced a joint venture – the China-Africa Machinery Corporation – to manufacture agricultural and construction equipment. YTO agreed to invest US$20.1 million for...

Five years after his first official visit, President Joseph Kabila returned to South Korea on 29-30 March. Two protocols were agreed. The first accord seeks to replicate China’s US$6...

A US$3.3 million loan offered by the China International Fund has drawn renewed criticism of the company’s activities in Guinea. On 1 March, Abdoulaye Yéro Baldé, a member...

Why won’t anyone help Yang Fan pay his US$135,000 bail bond – especially when he has $2.3 million stashed in a local bank account and a swish golf...