Strenghtening African Ties

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options:

President Hu Jintao made a visit to Sudan - China's third-largest African trading partner - in early February, pledging to 'bring cooperation between the countries to a new level'. While the international community had hoped Hu would use the visit to press Sudan on the issue of Darfur, the focus of his trip was primarily economic. The Sudanese government, under sanctions from the US, is reliant on Chinese investment to expand oil production and build new infrastructure. China's 'no strings attached' involvement in Africa continues to raise concerns in the West, which worries that this could undermine its efforts to