China to give Africa $10 billion dollars in loans

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Sunday pledged to give Africa 10 billion dollars in loans, brushing off criticism of "neo-colonialism" as China boosts its presence on the continent.

"We will help Africa build up its financing capabilities ... We will provide 10 billion US dollars for Africa in concessional loans," Wen told a Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which opened in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday.

His pledge was included among measures he said would be taken over the next three years, including cancelling debts of African countries to increase his country's role in the continent.

The Asian giant pledged five billion dollars in assistance over three years at the last Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, held in Beijing in 2006, and has signed agreements to relieve or cancel the debt of 31 African nations.

It will also provide a one-billion-dollar loan for "for small and medium-sized businesses," Wen said.

"China is ready to deepen practical cooperation in Africa," he said, adding that Beijing was prepared to take on a role in "the settlement of issues of peace and security."

China will also remove tariffs on 95 percent of products "from the least-developed African states that have diplomatic relations with China," he said.

Wen also said China would help build 100 solar power and bio-gas plants and increase infrastructure and agriculture projects.

Chinese firms have been pouring investments into oil and other raw materials in Africa to fuel the Asian country's booming economy.

Over the past five years, Chinese direct investment in Africa has soared, from 491 million dollars in 2003 to 7.8 billion dollars in 2008, according to official Chinese figures.

Total trade between China and Africa topped 100 billion dollars in 2008 -- a tenfold increase in eight years.

But Beijing's growing economic role in the poverty-ridden continent has also been met with some criticism.

China has been accused of throwing a lifeline to pariah regimes accused of human rights violations, such as the government of Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Chinese officials say they follow a policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of African countries, and deny that Chinese investments and loans come with strings attached.

"There have been allegations for long that China has come to plunder resources" in Africa, Wen said at a press conference, calling the accusations "untenable."

"Why do some only criticise China?" he asked. "Is this a view representing African countries, or rather the view of Western countries?" he said, insisting China's aid was "selfless."

In his speech, Wen said: "Africa is fully capable of solving its own problems, in an African way."

"China has never attached any political strings... to assistance to Africa," he said, adding that trade is based on "win-win programmes ... and transparency."

Sudan's Beshir, who is at the two-day summit, thanked China in a speech for its diplomatic role in Sudan, where a six-year conflict in the country's Darfur region has killed 300,000 people, according to the United Nations.

On March 4 the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Beshir, accusing him of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.