Beijing Pledges Aid Billions to Woo Africa

China launched its grand-scale efforts to gain access to Africa's oil and markets yesterday, pledging billions of pounds in aid and loans as dozens of African leaders attended a summit in Beijing.

Leaders from 48 out of Africa's 53 nations - the largest such gathering in history - were on the guest list. There was a warm welcome for China's investment, but Beijing faces international criticism that it is behaving like a new colonial power in Africa while supporting regimes that are vilified for their poor human rights records, such as that of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.

President Hu Jintao pledged to double China's aid to Africa by 2009. Speaking at the opening ceremony, he promised $3bn in loans, $2bn in export credits and a $5bn fund to encourage Chinese businessmen and women to invest in the continent.

'Chinese assistance to Africa is sincere, unselfish and has no strings attached,' Premier Wen Jiabao said at yesterday's gathering of Chinese and African entrepreneurs held as part of the conference. Possibly reacting to some of the criticism, Wen promised to ensure that projects are 'open, just, fair and transparent'.

China's trade with Africa soared to $39.7bn last year, four times its 2000 level, according to Wen. He called for efforts to boost that to $100bn by 2020 and promised to open China's markets wider to African exports.

China's state oil companies are expanding in Africa, signing deals in Nigeria, Angola, Sudan and elsewhere. Manufacturers are trying to expand exports to African markets.

Human rights activists accuse China of supporting governments such as Sudan's and Zimbabwe's that are accused of chronic abuses. African business groups complain about poor treatment by Chinescompanies and competition from a flood of low-cost imports.

But a succession of African leaders who took to the podium to speak yesterday said they want closer commercial ties with China and hope to learn from its two-decade boom as they try to reduce poverty. 'Chinese companies can become key players by investing in our development processes,' said President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, speaking on behalf of a group of East African governments.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch appealed to Beijing yesterday to be judicious in giving aid. It called on Chinese leaders to avoid giving Sudan assistance that might fuel the Darfur conflict. 'Africans do not need another external power enabling abusive regimes,' the group said in a statement. 'They need all powers, including China, to place human rights at the centre of their policies.'