CHINA TO DOUBLE ITS AID TO AFRICA !

The African leaders are being given a warm welcome. China has pledged to double its aid to Africa and provide $5bn in loans and credits over the next three years. Chinese President Hu Jintao made the announcement as he opened a summit in Beijing attended by nearly 50 African heads of state and ministers. The summit is focusing on business with more than 2,000 deals under discussion.

African leaders welcome their booming trade links with China, but critics accuse Beijing of dealing with repressive regimes. Beijing says it is just doing business and has no political agenda."Our meeting today will go down in history," Mr Hu told the China-Africa summit. "China will forever be a good friend, good partner, good brother of Africa," he said.

Beijing means business

Mr Hu said that China would double its aid to Africa from its 2006 level by 2009, although he gave no figures. Beijing will offer US$3bn in preferential loans and US$2bn in export credits over the next three years, President Hu said. China will train 15,000 African professionals and set up a development fund to help build schools and hospitals. China's drive to buy African oil and other commodities has led to a big increase in two-way trade, worth $42bn (£22bn) in 2005.

Africa is also a growing market for Chinese goods, but critics say Beijing is stifling African manufacturing. Some analysts have said Africa is the only place left to go, as most of the world's other big oil reserves are already being developed by major Western energy companies. The three-day summit is concentrating on the rapidly expanding economic ties between the two sides, and many new business deals are likely to be announced over the weekend. Many of them are expected to revolve around China's hunger for African mineral resources, particularly oil.

Some critics have voiced concerns over how Chinese-owned firms treat African workers. Protests broke out in Zambia in July about the alleged ill-treatment of workers at a Chinese-owned mine, and there have been reports of pay disputes in Namibia.

China's supporters point to the fact that it has invested billions of dollars in aid, cheap loans and helping to upgrade roads, ports, railways, telephone lines, power stations and other key infrastructure across Africa. Often, Chinese money is funding projects that Western investors had deemed too risky. Many economists argue that overall, China's growing economic ties to Africa are benefiting the region.

BBC NEWS REPORT.