China Comes To Africa
On Lumley Beach, by the Sierra Leonian capital Freetown, a huge new tourist development is soon to rise from the ground. Two hundred million dollars, hotels, conference centres, sports facilities, a casino, night clubs - a sign that Sierra Leone is emerging from years of brutal civil war. A sign also of a new superpower making its growing economic strength felt across Africa because the Lumley Beach complex, like many other construction projects in Africa, is to be funded by Chinese money. With China buying in oil and other much-needed raw materials from Africa, and African consumers buying in ever-more goods made in China, Sino-African trade is booming. All this week, Outlook explores the human dimension of the growing trade links by meeting Chinese expatriates in Africa. We start the series with Zhang Yonggang at the Ethiopia office of the China Road And Bridge Corporation.




Chinese in Africa
All this week, we're meeting Chinese expatriates in sub-Saharan Africa, the human face on one side of the rapidly growing Sino-African trade links - worth 30 billion dollars last year. Already, we've met Chinese workers in the construction industry in Ethiopia and the garment industry in Malawi. Next up, we meet Dang Song, the head of the largest Chinese company operating in Kenya. The North China Grid Company employs more than 100 Kenyans and runs a factory producing concrete poles for electricity and telecom wires.

Chinese in Africa - a different perspective
Outlook this week has been hearing from some of the growing number of Chinese investors and entrepreneurs now living and working in Africa. Today there's a different perspective, from Jacqueline Machaka, who's made a career running Chinese language courses for Kenyans in the capital Nairobi.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/pr.../outlook.shtml

Africa as a communist continent?

I've heard about their dealings in Sudan, what would be intresting is how they'd go about trying to enforce their anti religious state on the continent (there is a word for it, secular?).

Intresting in that I'd rather them than the west but not good...I think theres gonna be bad air between the US and the Chinese soon as well, Japans shaking and the deal says that America will protect Japan if China invades. Intresting times.

This whole Sino/Japan cliche is getting old.

China doesn't care about Japan, and there is nothing Japan can do about China flexing its muscles. An invasion of the Japanese mainland would be pointless, since there is nothing there of value.

If they keep coming to Africa with cash in tow like this. Makes me wonder do immigrant Chinese trust western banks in Africa? Why come with a bucket of cash to be robbed and killed?

Chinese are safe: S. Africa tourism official
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-24 08:51

To clear up the bad impression left by a series of murders over the past several years, South Africa Tourism Board officials yesterday pledged they would do everything to ensure the safety of Chinese tourists in their country.

Chinese media reports said more than 30 Chinese people have been murdered in South Africa since 2004. Many Chinese tourists carry large amounts of cash, instead of credit cards or traveler's checks, making them an easy target for criminals.

"We admit there have been some Chinese murdered and robbed in our country and feel sorry for it," said Joseph Ngobeni, assistant commissioner of communication and liaison services of the South African Police Service, in Shanghai yesterday. "But I assure each case has been thoroughly investigated, and one of the murderers has already been arrested."

Ngobeni said the murders didn't specifically target Chinese people, and he emphasized that none of the victims were tourists, they were all residents.

He suggested tourists not carry large amounts of cash with them.

"Besides, I think tourists had better not act singly when going to strange places," said Ngobeni.

According to Mangoba Nyembezi, tourism commissioner at the South African Embassy in China, governments in all nine provinces have already enhanced their power to combat serious and violent crimes and protect tourists from any country.

"In several of our provinces, we have established a group of tourist policemen who will specially protect tourists," said Nyembezi. More than 52,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa last year.