• Chinese president meets Chinese, Nigerian businessmen

Chinese President Hu's visits to Saudi Arabia and Nigeria underscore oil needs, but analysts note broader signals.
Chavez plans a major step toward nationalizing Venezuela's oil industry, potentially hurting oil-firm profits and output and pressuring global oil prices.
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Kookmin Bank said it won't finalize its purchase of a 50.53% stake in rival bank KEB until a probe into Lone Star's 2003 acquisition of KEB is over.
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American Express reported its first-quarter net fell 7.7%, mainly due to spinning off its financial-advisory unit.
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Microsoft said EU regulators made 'serious errors' in ruling against it that could deter innovation by other firms.
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Blackstone agreed to buy a 4.5% stake in Deutsche Telekom from Germany's government for $3.31 billion.
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Japan Post will start sales in June of four investment trusts managed by Nikko Asset, DLIBJ Asset and STB Asset.
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Plantronics' new factory is the first plant in China to be certified a 'green' building by a U.S. nonprofit group.
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Taiwan's BenQ posted a first-quarter net loss as it continues to integrate cellphone operations acquired from Siemens.
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Seven Asian wireless firms including are allying in roaming and other services.
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Novartis's earnings rose 32%, helped by a gain and lower costs, on a 13% rise in sales.
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Enron ex-Chairman Lay testified he didn't 'think there was a conspiracy' to cook the books of the failed energy firm.
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Document DJCFWE0020060425e24p000p1

Business and Finance

What's News

Business and Finance
316 words

25 April 2006

The Wall Street Journal Asia

AWSJ

1

English

(c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. To see the edition in which this article appeared, click here http://awsj.com.hk/factiva-ns
The dollar fell sharply against its rivals, particularly in Asia, spurring a selloff in the region's stocks. Tokyo's Nikkei average dropped 2.8%. The dollar's weakness followed a G-7 finance ministers' call for greater flexibility of currencies.
U.S. stocks declined midday amid mixed corporate-earnings reports, the dollar's fall and a drop in oil prices.
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Chinese President Hu's visits to Saudi Arabia and Nigeria underscore oil needs, but analysts note broader signals.
Chavez plans a major step toward nationalizing Venezuela's oil industry, potentially hurting oil-firm profits and output and pressuring global oil prices.
---
Kookmin Bank said it won't finalize its purchase of a 50.53% stake in rival bank KEB until a probe into Lone Star's 2003 acquisition of KEB is over.
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American Express reported its first-quarter net fell 7.7%, mainly due to spinning off its financial-advisory unit.
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Microsoft said EU regulators made "serious errors" in ruling against it that could deter innovation by other firms.
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Blackstone agreed to buy a 4.5% stake in Deutsche Telekom from Germany's government for $3.31 billion.
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Japan Post will start sales in June of four investment trusts managed by Nikko Asset, DLIBJ Asset and STB Asset.
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Plantronics' new factory is the first plant in China to be certified a "green" building by a U.S. nonprofit group.
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Taiwan's BenQ posted a first-quarter net loss as it continues to integrate cellphone operations acquired from Siemens.
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Seven Asian wireless firms including are allying in roaming and other services.
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Novartis's earnings rose 32%, helped by a gain and lower costs, on a 13% rise in sales.
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Enron ex-Chairman Lay testified he didn't "think there was a conspiracy" to cook the books of the failed energy firm.
Document AWSJ000020060424e24p0001i

CHRONOLOGY-Chinese-African trade relations are increasing
440 words

24 April 2006

09:46 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2006 Reuters Limited
April 24 (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao arrives in Morocco on Monday to begin the African leg of a world tour.
Trade links between fast-growing economic powerhouse China and Africa have taken a leap forward since 2004, when Hu announced a new drive to strengthen relations with the energy and mineral-rich continent.
These are some of the major deals of the last two years:
Jan/Feb 2004 - Total Gabon signs a contract with China's Sinopec under which Gabonese crude oil will be sold to China for the first time.
June 2004 - Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong tours Tunisia, Togo, Benin and South Africa. Zeng's visit to South Africa was marked by agreements including a deal opening the way for the export of South African citrus to the Chinese market and letters of intent for two big trade and investment projects.
July 2004 - Jinchuan Group, China's largest nickel producer, says it has established an office in Johannesburg as part of efforts to buy cobalt, copper, nickel and platinum in southern Africa.
November 2004 - China's biggest telecoms equipment maker, Huawei Technologies, wins a series of contracts in Africa worth more than $400 million in total. Huawei says the contracts came from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
January 2005 - Angola says it plans to use a $2 billion loan from China to repair its infrastructure, which was wrecked during a civil war that ended in 2002.
July 2005 - China and Nigeria sign a $800 million crude oil sale deal between Petrochina International and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to supply 30,000 barrels of crude per day to China.
August 2005 - China gives Kenya 2.6 billion Kenyan shillings ($34.32 million) in aid, mainly to modernise its ailing state-run Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC).
Jan 2006 - China's top offshore oil producer, CNOOC Ltd., agrees to pay $2.3 billion for a stake in a Nigerian oil and gas field, its largest ever overseas acquisition.
March 2006 - China agrees to add another $1 billion to its oil-backed loan to Angola.
April 2006 - Eritrea says it signed an accord for a $23 million loan from China, with which the isolationist Horn of Africa state is boosting ties.
April 2006 - Algeria awards contracts estimated at $7 billion to Japanese and Chinese consortiums to build parts of a 1,300 km (810 mile) highway running from Tunisia to Morocco.
CHINA-AFRICA-TRADE (CHRONOLOGY) (24/4/06)|LANGEN|G|RBN|ABN|C|D|E|M|O|U|MTL|GRO|SOF|OIL|AFN|Z|MD|RNP|DNP|PGE
Document LBA0000020060424e24o0014i
China Telecommunications Daily News

Huawei Opens Support Center and Expands Training Center for Western Africa

190 words

24 April 2006

China Industry Daily News

BJEIND

English

Copyright 2006. Beijing Xinhua InfoLink Development Co Ltd/CINIC. All Rights Reserved.
2006-4-24
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei"), a leading Chinese provider of telecommunication product and solutions, on April 6 held a ceremony for the opening of its new Technology Support Center and the expansion of its Training Center for Western Africa in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, Huawei said on its website on April 20.
The participants of the ceremony include government officials, senior executives from telecommunication carriers, and telecom industry experts, including the Minister of Science and Technology Ministry of Nigeria, the Minister of Communications Ministry of Nigeria, and the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria.
Huawei has made a total investment of USD 10 million in the construction and expansion of these two centers.
The training center, after expansion is completed, can accommodate 2,000 trainees each year, twice its previous capacity. The training programs include technologies such as GSM, CDMA, fixed network, optical transmission, broadband, data communications, as well as application and software.
In addition, the new Technology Support Center is able to handle more than 200 calls a day from customers.
Document BJEIND0020060424e24o0000o

FACTBOX-Key issues as China's Hu visits S.Arabia, Africa
505 words

21 April 2006

06:58 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2006 Reuters Limited
April 21 (Reuters) - China's President Hu Jintao will visit Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya following his first formal visit to the United States.
The following issues are expected to feature for the remainder of his trip:
SAUDI ARABIA
Hu will spend three days in Saudi Arabia from Saturday, just three months after the recently crowned King Abdullah visited China on his first-ever state visit as king.
Saudi Arabia used to regard Communist China as a godless, revolutionary threat, and until 1990 had official ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
But China's insatiable demand for oil has helped erase that past.
Saudi Arabia was China's top oil supplier in 2005, providing 17.5 percent of its imports with 443,600 barrels per day (bpd).
Saudi Aramco last year signed a $3.5 billion deal with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Sinopec, China's top refiner, to expand a refinery in south Fujian province. It is also in talks with Sinopec about investing in a plant in the northern port city of Qingdao.
Hu is scheduled to give a speech in Riyadh on April 23 on China's relations with the Middle East.
NIGERIA
Beijing has a keen eye on high-quality oil reserves in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, and Minister of State for Petroleum Edmund Daukoru visited the Chinese capital earlier this month.
China's top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd. also said this week it had completed a deal to buy a share of a Nigerian oil mining licence, in its biggest-ever overseas acquisition.
Hu is expected to give a speech at the National Assembly in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on April 27 on China's relations with Africa.
MOROCCO
Hu will meet Morocco's King Mohammed and sign trade, culture, medical and sanitary agreements with the country.
Bilateral trade rose by almost a third to $1.5 billion last year, with China exporting mainly textiles, home electronics and tea and Morocco exporting semiconductor equipment, fertilizer and seafood.
Morocco's textile industry, which accounts for up to 35 percent of the country's total exports, has come under pressure from competition from super low-cost China in recent years. KENYA
China and Kenya signed loan agreements in January worth about 357 million yuan ($44.28 million) to support the east African country's electricity grid and rural telecommunications, supplementing $34 million pledged in 2005 during Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki's state visit to China.
Also, in October 2005, Kenya announced it would sign agreements with China's CNOOC to explore oil and gas in six blocks in Kenya's north and south.
Kenya is also keen to attract Chinese tourists, which the head of the national airline expects could account for passenger growth of about 8-10 percent per annum.
CHINA-HU-TRIP (FACTBOX)|LANGEN|AFA|CSA|LBY|RWSA|RWS|REULB|GNS|RNA|ABX|BNX|FUN|SXNA
Document LBA0000020060421e24l000vx

FACTBOX-Key issues as China's Hu visits S.Arabia, Africa
525 words

21 April 2006

06:59 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2006 Reuters Limited
April 21 (Reuters) - China's President Hu Jintao will visit Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya following his first formal visit to the United States.
The following issues are expected to feature for the remainder of his trip:
SAUDI ARABIA
Hu will spend three days in Saudi Arabia from Saturday, just three months after the recently crowned King Abdullah visited China on his first-ever state visit as king.
Saudi Arabia used to regard Communist China as a godless, revolutionary threat, and until 1990 had official ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
But China's insatiable demand for oil has helped erase that past.
Saudi Arabia was China's top oil supplier in 2005, providing 17.5 percent of its imports with 443,600 barrels per day (bpd).
Saudi Aramco last year signed a $3.5 billion deal with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Sinopec , China's top refiner, to expand a refinery in south Fujian province. It is also in talks with Sinopec about investing in a plant in the northern port city of Qingdao.
Hu is scheduled to give a speech in Riyadh on April 23 on China's relations with the Middle East.
NIGERIA
Beijing has a keen eye on high-quality oil reserves in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, and Minister of State for Petroleum Edmund Daukoru visited the Chinese capital earlier this month.
China's top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd. also said this week it had completed a deal to buy a share of a Nigerian oil mining licence, in its biggest-ever overseas acquisition.
Hu is expected to give a speech at the National Assembly in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on April 27 on China's relations with Africa.
MOROCCO
Hu will meet Morocco's King Mohammed and sign trade, culture, medical and sanitary agreements with the country.
Bilateral trade rose by almost a third to $1.5 billion last year, with China exporting mainly textiles, home electronics and tea and Morocco exporting semiconductor equipment, fertilizer and seafood.
Morocco's textile industry, which accounts for up to 35 percent of the country's total exports, has come under pressure from competition from super low-cost China in recent years.
KENYA
China and Kenya signed loan agreements in January worth about 357 million yuan ($44.28 million) to support the east African country's electricity grid and rural telecommunications, supplementing $34 million pledged in 2005 during Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki's state visit to China.
Also, in October 2005, Kenya announced it would sign agreements with China's CNOOC to explore oil and gas in six blocks in Kenya's north and south.
Kenya is also keen to attract Chinese tourists, which the head of the national airline expects could account for passenger growth of about 8-10 percent per annum.
For a related story on Hu's visit to Saudi Arabia and Africa, please click on [nPEK16610]
CHINA-HU-TRIP (FACTBOX)|LANGEN|MD|G|RBN|Z|ABN|M|E|D|O|OIL|AFN|RNP|DNP|PGE|PEN
Document LBA0000020060421e24l000vu
NEWSLINE1
1,260 words

21 April 2006

Turkish Daily News

TURKDN

English

(c) 2006 The Turkish Daily News (TDN)
China confirms 12th human bird flu death
BEIJING - Reuters
A 21-year-old man in China's central province of Hubei died on Wednesday of H5N1 bird flu, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday, quoting local health authorities. Xinhua identified the victim as a migrant worker surnamed Lai who worked as a security guard in the provincial capital Wuhan. He returned home last month to attend a funeral and developed symptoms of pneumonia on April 1, it said. Lai was the 12th Chinese to die from the virus since the first death in November of last year. It was not immediately clear if China had informed the World Health Organization, which officially confirms human deaths from bird flu. China has recorded 17 cases of human bird flu infections.
Nigerian opposition fights Obasanjo third term
ABUJA - Reuters
A new Nigerian opposition party showed its strength in the heart of the capital on Thursday, attracting thousands of opponents to a plan to change the constitution to keep President Olusegun Obasanjo in power. The Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) has gained widespread support over the past few months by positioning itself as the rallying point for opponents of the campaign to allow Obasanjo to stand for a third term in elections next year. The ACD's launch rally drew prominent critics of the third term plan from other opposition parties, as well as disgruntled members of the ruling People's Democratic Party, in a sign that a broad alliance is forming against the pro-Obasanjo camp. "There's a need for a very strong and united opposition that can take power in this country, since if we are factionalised we cannot win against the incumbent," Ahmed Bola Tinubu, governor of Lagos state, told Reuters on the sidelines of the rally.
Japan scrambled jets to intercept Chinese spy planes
TOKYO - The Associated Press
Japan scrambled fighter jets a record 107 times in the year ending in March to intercept what appeared to be Chinese spy planes approaching Japanese air space, a top general said on Thursday, amid growing concern in Tokyo over China's recent arms buildup. That number was a dramatic increase from the previous year, when jets scrambled only 13 times against suspected Chinese planes, said Gen. Hajime Massaki, chairman of the Joint Staff Committee. "Chinese activities in areas around Japanese territory have reached unprecedented levels," Massaki said. "We believe these planes to be engaging in information-gathering activity, and behind this trend is the rapid modernization of China's military," he told a news conference.
Queen reopens refurbished HQ of BBC radio
LONDON - The Associated Press
Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday formally reopened the London headquarters of British Broadcasting Corp. radio - and was asked why she has not invited Cuban leader Fidel Castro to her 80th birthday celebrations. John Humphrys, the tenacious interviewer on Radio 4's "Today" news program, posed the jocular question to the monarch as she toured newly refurbished parts of Broadcasting House, home of BBC radio since the 1930s. "I suggested it was a bit mean not to invite Fidel Castro to the palace because he's 80 as well and she didn't seem to think it was a very good idea," Humphrys said afterward. Radio 2 host Terry Wogan, who also met the queen, interjected, "No she didn't. She thought in fact you were showing marked communist leanings and showing republican tendencies." The queen turns 80 today and Castro reaches the same milestone on Aug. 13. During her tour of the building, the queen also watched the recording of the popular Radio 4 program, "Woman's Hour," and met a raft of celebrities, including the actors Prunella Scales and Timothy West. BBC chairman Michael Grade presented a digital radio to the queen as a birthday gift.
Ex-terror suspect books seat in new Thai Senate
BANGKOK - The Associated Press
A former terror suspect, a country music singer and a movie star won Senate seats, preliminary results showed on Thursday, as voters in Thailand's capital and the restive south delivered a firm antiestablishment message to outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. While Thaksin allies are expected to dominate the supposedly neutral Senate, unofficial results from Wednesday's election indicated that sworn Thaksin enemies won at the polls in Bangkok and elsewhere. The Election Commission said Thursday evening that counting had been completed and official results would be announced within the next few days. Some 130 complaints of fraud were being investigated, said secretary-general Ekkachai Warunprapha.
Rwandan man arrested for genocide threat
KIGALI - AFP
Rwandan police have arrested a man for allegedly threatening to re-start the country's 1994 genocide in a phone call to a live radio program, officials said on Thursday. Heslon Manirakiza, 26, was detained in connection with the threat made in an anonymous call last week to Kigali's Radio Contact amid commemorations marking the 12th anniversary of the start of the genocide, they said. "He was arrested on Monday and his file has been sent to the courts," said a police officer involved in the investigation. Manirakiza is alleged to have called into an April 12 memorial program for genocide victims and yelled in Rwanda's local Kinyarwanda language "We will still kill you" or "We will finish you off," officials said.
Algeria's Bouteflika in France for medical 'check-up'
PARIS - AFP
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was in Paris for a medical examination on Thursday, five months after undergoing stomach surgery in the French capital, French and Algerian officials said. Algerian officials said 69-year-old Bouteflika, who was operated on for a bleeding stomach ulcer at a Paris military hospital last November, was in the country for a routine consultation. "It is a post-surgical check-up. It is a routine examination that is absolutely normal following a surgical operation. There is nothing serious," Algerian Minister of State Abdelaziz Belkhadem, Bouteflika's spokesman, told AFP. The Algerian presidency issued a statement saying the check-up had been "planned well in advance, following his hospitalisation at Paris' Val de Grace hospital last November."
Macedonia calls July 5 election; EU watching
SKOPJE - Reuters
Macedonia on Thursday called a general election for July 5, facing pressure from the European Union to avoid the irregularities that have marred past votes. The EU, which in December made the former Yugoslav republic an official candidate for membership, says it must improve on the conduct of local elections in March 2005, criticised by European observers for widespread irregularities. The country has since adopted a raft of changes to its electoral law and is determined to hold a free and fair vote ahead of an EU review of its membership bid later this year. A statement from the parliament said speaker Ljupco Jordanovski officially called elections within the regular timeframe. "Elections will be held on July 5, 2006," it said.
'Denmark asked to accept Taylor after trial'
COPENHAGEN - The Associated Press
A Danish diplomat acknowledged Thursday the Scandinavian country had been informally asked to imprison former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes by a U.N.-backed court. "Denmark is one of several countries that is in the search light," a senior Foreign Ministry spokesman said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized by the ministry to give his name to the media. The diplomat said Denmark "has not yet received a formal request from the United Nations." He gave no indication whether Denmark would agree. The Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment.
Document TURKDN0020060421e24l0002a
WORLD

Reporters on the Job

443 words

20 April 2006

The Christian Science Monitor

CHSM

ALL

06

English

© 2006 Christian Science Monitor. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.
* Theme Song for an Uprising?: Contributor Daniel Pepper was at a rebel camp in eastern Chad last month. After doing his reporting, he rode with one of the rebel commanders, a young Chadian who used to live in Houston.
"We rode together on a punishing four-hour ride over some of the planet's most unpleasant terrain (think Motocross derby minus the fun, and a lot hotter)," says Daniel. They were headed toward El Geneina, Sudan, the capital of western Darfur and the transit point for Chinese contractors, Sudanese military, American and European aid workers, and Nigerian, Zambian, and South African peacekeepers.
"As the sun set on our left, we passed two burned out villages and miles of scorched earth. On my right, golden-yellow grasses stretched into the distance. From the cab of the Land Cruiser ahead of us, the armed adolescent boys - rebels - stuck out their tongues and laughed uproariously as they suddenly swerved to cut us off. We were drag-racing through the wasteland of Darfur," Daniel observes.
During the long journey, Daniel let the rebel commander, Beshir, listen to his iPod. "I only have a couple songs by the South African musician Johnny Clegg, which he played about a dozen times. I have some Jay-Z, and some LL Cool J. He played Tracy Chapman's 'Talkin' Bout a Revolution.' Twice."
* From a Safe Distance: David Enders has been reporting in - and about - the conflicted Baghdad neighborhood of Adhamiya for the past three years. But it's not safe for him to go there now. Today's story was reported via phone calls to a variety of neighborhood residents, including an Iraqi interpreter who used to work for David and an Iraqi cameraman whom he knows well. "It's not ideal, but it's how you have to cover many parts of Iraq today," he notes.
The last time David visited the neighborhood, in the summer of 2004, was to report about an attack on US troops. "I was asking people there what they'd seen, what had happened. After about 10 minutes, one of the people I was interviewing said, 'those two men are following you.' I high-tailed it out of there, and they followed me.
"That was the last time I've been out on the street in Adhamiya. I've made quick trips directly to a house of a known friend or source, but never lingered on the street."
David Clark ScottWorld editor
Let us hear from you.
Mail to: One Norway Street, Boston, MA 02115 via e-mail: world(at)csmonitor.com(c) Copyright 2006. The Christian Science Monitor
Document CHSM000020060419e24k0000a

Asian economic and corporate news summary
696 words

14 April 2006

AFX Asia

AFXASI

English

(c) 2006, AFX Asia. All rights reserved.
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A summary of Asian economic and corporate news at 1000 GMT
JAPAN:
-Govt keeps assessment unchanged in April, says economy recovering
-Govt alarmed by rise in long-term interest rates
-Japanese regulator to suspend consumer lender Aiful's operations
-Bank of Japan board sees 'gradual' rate hikes after zero rate policy - minutes
-G7 finance ministers to discuss oil, rates, yuan - Japan
-March corporate bankruptcies rise 20.2 pct from Feb - Shoko Research
-March corporate failures up 9.1 pct from Feb - Teikoku
-March department store sales up 1.4 pct year-on-year
-Livedoor delisted from Tokyo bourse
-Minebea cuts FY net forecast on restructuring, but lifts opg profit
-Takashimaya March department store sales up 3.8 pct year-on-year
SOUTH KOREA:
-Samsung Electronics Q1 net profit 1.88 trln won vs 2.56 trln in Q4
-Samsung Elec Q1 opg profit falls short of market consensus
-Samsung Electronics says to buy back 1.85 trln won in shares from April 18
-Samsung Elec to invest 220 mln usd on 12-inch fab in US plant
-Samsung Electronics sees positive Q2, led by NAND, LCD sales
-More arrests in Hyundai Motor graft probe
-Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors production stopped by strike
CHINA:
-China end-March forex reserves at 875.1 bln usd vs 853.7 bln end-Feb
-China end-March M2 up 18.8 pct yr-on-yr - central bank
-China says to move ahead with exchange reforms, discuss intl exchange rates
-China raises current account limit for domestic institutions - regulator
-Central banks says banks can invest abroad with yuan assets
-China regulator approves another 100 mln usd QFII quota to JP Morgan
-China Q1 actual FDI at 14.25 bln usd, up 6.4 pct year-on-year
-China to launch interbank market forex swaps on April 24
-Yuan central parity rate set at 8.0163 to dollar vs 8.0248
-Yuan ends at 8.0157 to US dollar vs 8.0181 in exchange-traded market
-7-day fixing repo rate set at 1.5360 pct vs 1.5087
-Ministry of Finance issues 30.96 bln yuan in 3-yr treasury bonds
-China president Hu to discuss energy cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Nigeria
-China says shares US concerns over trade imbalance
-China calls on Taiwan to allow mainland cos to invest on island
-China Unicom improves share offer to 2.8 shares per 10 from 2.3
-Kweichow Moutai raises offer to 20.66 yuan per 10 shares vs 8.39 yuan
-AsiaInfo to provide customer management platform to Shanghai Unicom
-Qingdao Aucma to receive 300 mln yuan from state-funded investment firm
-BP to invest 22 mln usd to build lubricant plant in eastern China
-Investor buys 6.4 pct of Sina shares
-Pingdingshan Coal Group to issue 1 bln yuan in 10-year debt
TAIWAN:
-Taiwan central bank awards 60 bln twd certificates of deposit at 1.742 pct
-Foreign investors net buyers of 12.38 bln twd Taiwan shares today
-Foreign investors buy net 23.93 mln TSMC shares today
-Foreign investors sell net 4.22 mln Wintek shares today
-Quanta Computer declines comment on reported alliance with E-TEN
-Winbond says not in talks with VIA on camera-phone chip cooperation
-Taishin says planning to raise stake in Chang Hwa Bank to 32.5 pct
-Acer resigns from BenQ board
-Nan Ya Plastics gains 2.24 bln twd on sale of shares in unit
-Powerchip buys equipment from GSI Lumonics for 17.18 mln usd
SINGAPORE:
-Auric Pacific unit to buy 29.9 pct Robinson stake for 203 mln sgd
MALAYSIA:
-Feb natural rubber output up 25.1 pct yr-on-yr, up 11.9 mth-on-mth
-Malaysia Airlines ready for ticketless domestic travel from May 1
-Lien Hoe unit in joint venture to develop property project
-Harn Len to sell Sabah plantation companies for 36.72 mln rgt
-TH Plantations IPO public tranche oversubscribed 14.10 times - MIH
-Bahrain's UIB pitching for shares in two more foreign banks
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND:
-Patrick accepts revised Toll takeover offer
[e-mail]
ic/zr
MMMM
03663152
Document AFXASI0020060414e24e008et

Africa Insight: China calling: Is it time to say goodbye to US and Europe?
Daily Nation Kenya

2,616 words

14 April 2006

ISI Emerging Markets Africawire

LQAF

English

© Copyright 2006. Internet Securities, Inc. All rights reserved.
By the turn of the century, China had transformed its foreign relations from one hinged on ideology to one governed by the pursuit of economic self-interest, and Africa has not been left out. Mark Sorbara explores Africa’s place in China’s new world
What do the US, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya have in common? Not much really. But from next week they will share a common ‘bond’ as part of the itinerary of a high-powered Chinese delegation led by none other than Chinese President Hu Jintao, from April 18 to 29. What’s the big deal about that, one may ask. Well, its simply because China is the place where big deals — of the mind-boggling type — are made these days. 
And there is quite some excitement about Hu’s visit, at least in Washington, where he is expected to tour Microsoft and Boeing Co. before heading to the White House on April 20. Forget Washington’s complaints over human rights violations, piracy, the value of China’s currency and unfair trade practices, the importance of China as a trade partner to the United States is crystal clear.
Figure this: “A multi-billion deal for Boeing aircraft has already been signed and Hu’s first official trip to the United States as president has also brought into focus a groundbreaking bid by a Citigroup-led consortium to buy an 85 per cent stake in China’s Guangdong Development Bank,” Reuters reported this week.
“Hu’s trip and a trade delegation this month led by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi are yielding deals on everything from software to soybeans worth an expected total of about $16 billion.” The report quoted Chinese aviation officials as saying that the Boeing deal signed on Tuesday involved the purchase of 80 Boeing 737 planes that have a list value of $4.6 billion.
The focal point of China-Africa relations is resource based
That’s all very well for the US, and we can pretty well guess what the Saudi’s will be buying and selling when they host Hu and his delegation. What about Africa? What’s in it for the continent?
The man who holds the answer is Li Zhaoxing, China’s foreign minister. Li Zhaoxing is no stranger to Africa. From 1970 to 1977 Li served as an attaché in the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, from 1983 to 1985 he was first secretary in Maseru, Lesotho.
From January 11 to 19 Li visited Cape Verde, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria and Libya. China’s increased role throughout Africa has demonstrated that Beijing’s Africa policy will be an important aspect of its rapid economic growth. Hence, on January 12, Li officially unveiled an Africa Policy Paper which outlined the future relationship between Africa and China.
As stated in its forward, the Policy Paper was created “... with the view of promoting the steady growth of China-Africa relations in the long term and bringing the mutually beneficial co-operation to a new stage.” It states, “the one China principle is the political foundation for the establishment and development of China’s relations with African countries and regional organisations.” If African countries choose to accept this prerequisite, China will “co-ordinate positions on major international and regional issues and stand for mutual support on major issues concerning state sovereignty, territorial integrity, national dignity and human rights.”
The focal point of China-Africa relations is resource based, as the policy states, “the Chinese government will adopt more effective measures to facilitate African commodities access to the Chinese market.” Investing in African extractive industries is a risky business, but China is desperately in need of raw materials to feed its booming economy, hence the government is willing to shoulder most of the risk for Chinese companies looking to invest in Africa. Therefore, “the Chinese government encourages and supports Chinese enterprises’ investment and business in Africa, and will continue to provide preferential loans and buyer credits to this end.”
Moreover, the policy states, “China will do its best to provide and gradually increase assistance to African countries with no political strings attached.” On peace and security, “China will promote high-level military exchanges between the two states and actively carry out military related technological exchanges and co-operation. It will continue to help train African military personnel and support defence and army building of African countries for their own security.” 
For not recognising Taiwan, African countries can get government-supported foreign direct investment, aid and military assistance “with no political strings attached.” Goodbye US and Europe; Hello China!
In the end,  though, China’s Africa policy today is largely driven by self-interest, mainly access to resources, therefore it has to work with African countries to make sure the resources increasingly flow towards Beijing and not Paris, London or Washington.  But it will not get the resources without some competition.
For example,  the influential US-based Council on Foreign Relations published a report in December 2005 entitled More Than Humanitarianism: A Strategic US Approach Towards Africa and has opened the debate on changing the US-Africa relations. The year 2005 supposedly was the “year of Africa”, but as the Foreign Relations report stated, “the point was missing — amid the music, communiqués, and the commitments -— that Africa is becoming steadily more central to the United States and the rest of the world in ways which transcend humanitarian interests.” 
Notably, fifteen pages of the US Foreign Relations report are spent assessing the impact of China’s increasing role in Africa and bluntly illustrate many of the issues which China’s Africa Policy Paper dealt with. For example, the report states, “All across Africa today, China is acquiring control of natural resource assets, out-bidding Western contractors on major infrastructure projects, and providing soft loans and other incentives to bolster is competitive advantage.” 
It continues, “Perhaps most disturbing to US political objectives is China’s willingness to use its seat on the UN Security Council to protect some of Africa’s most egregious regimes from international sanction ... China offers an alternative source of support, even to some of the United States’ closest allies, when they chafe under Western pressure for economic or political reform.”
On the subject of investment and aid the Foreign Relations report states that “China is also investing and providing assistance in areas that Western aid agencies and private investors have long neglected: physical infrastructure, industry and agriculture.” And “...Chinese business practices, which serve state interests as much as a profit motive, create unfair competition to US firms bidding for contracts.” The Chinese government and businesses see opportunity in Africa, where Westerners see poverty and despair, and they are actively working together to see that the opportunities are transformed into successful ventures.
In 1960s to 1970s, when ideology was the main factor influencing China’s foreign relations, almost 25,000 Chinese doctors and agricultural engineers were stationed all over the ‘Third World’. By the turn of the century, China had transformed its foreign relations to one governed by the pursuit of economic self-interest. From the first meeting of the China-Africa Co-operation Forum held in Beijing in 2000 to its second meeting held in Addis Ababa in 2003, a lot has changed. Between 2002 and 2003 China-Africa trade jumped 50 per cent to $18.5 billion, and by the end of 2004, over 715 Chinese-funded companies were operating in Africa. 
On January 6, 2006, the BBC reported that Chinese trade with Africa jumped 39 per cent to $32.17 billion in 2005 and “in the first 10 months of 2005 alone, Chinese companies invested a total of $175 million in African countries.” Moreover, in the next five years, China-Africa trade is expected to surpass $100 billion.
China’s thirst for raw materials has dramatically transformed its relations with many African countries. Take Nigeria; the trade between the two countries stood at $384 million in 1998, by 2001 it was $1 billion, by 2004 it was $2 billion and by the end of 2005 trade between Nigeria and China reached approximately $3 billion. In January 2006, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation paid $2.3 billion for a 45 per cent stake in the Akpo oil field, its largest overseas acquisition, which has a reserve of 600 million barrels and potential for an extra 500 million.
Trade between Nigeria and China has reached about $3billion