AFP
January 28, 2004

On only his third trip abroad as president, Hu Jintao is visiting three African countries, reflecting China’s growing need for natural resources to fuel its booming economy.

Sending peacekeepers and canceling debt, China’s new leadership is showing a peculiar interest in Africa, but observers see one over-arching reason behind the growing focus on the continent.

‘Natural resources,’ said David Zweig, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. ‘The Chinese are quite interested and quite active in Africa.’

Beginning tomorrow, Mr Hu will spend three days in Egypt, then two days in Gabon and one in Algeria.

His trip comes shortly after the International Energy Agency said China has become the world’s second-largest consumer of crude oil after the US. China used 5.46 million barrels of oil a day last year, compared with Japan’s 5.43 million, according to the agency.

Africa is just part of the broader picture as China builds up a network of energy-related relationships throughout the world.

Energy could be an important part of Mr Hu’s Egyptian agenda, as the North African nation relies on oil for 40 per cent of its export earnings. It also looks set to become a major natural gas supplier.

Oil is expected to figure particularly high on the agenda during Mr Hu’s visit to Gabon. It may in fact be the only reason why Mr Hu is going to the tiny nation of 1.3 million people, according to observers.

‘The two parties will . . . discuss cooperation in the energy field, including oil,’ said Zhao Jianping, director of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Africa section.

The final stop on Mr Hu’s itinerary, Algeria, is another key element in China’s energy strategy. In July last year, the China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of PetroChina, spent US$350 million on the purchase of several refining businesses in the North African country.