Since 2005 China’s interest in Africa has intensified. In November 2006, Beijing hosted a Sino-African summit at which it promised more than 40 of the continent’s leaders a new era of co-operation.

Beijing has offered more than long-necked symbolism. In 2006 alone, it signed trade deals with African countries worth $60bn. Investments, which often include a resources-for-infrastructure element, have poured in thick and fast. China’s stock of foreign direct investment has shot well past $120bn. In 2006, Angola temporarily overtook Saudi Arabia as China’s main supplier of oil, and Africa now accounts for nearly 30 per cent of China’s oil imports.

In 2007, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the biggest bank in the world by deposits, paid $5.6bn for a fifth of South Africa’s Standard Bank. Two years ago Beijing pledged $10bn of new low-cost loans to Africa. It also promised to eliminate tariffs on 60 per cent of exports and to forgive the debt of several countries. Trade between Africa and China has already risen spectacularly: in 2009 it jumped 45 per cent to $107bn, a tenfold increase over 2000.

Beijing’s engagement with Africa has caused much hand-wringing. China is no philanthropist, but its rise may still represent Africa’s best hope of escaping poverty. In the eight years to 2007, before the financial crisis, African countries were growing, on average, by more than 4 per cent a year, far higher than previously. That was thanks partly to better economic management, debt relief and increased capital flows (some from China), but also to the higher commodity prices driven by Chinese demand.

Much of the criticism of China’s influence rings hollow. As Chinese and Japanese officials point out, the west’s track record is less than exemplary. European contact with Africa can best be summed up as decades of naked rapaciousness followed by a spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to make amends. During the cold war western governments supported dictators across the continent, from President Mobutu Sese Seko to Idi Amin.

Finally, China is not alone in seeking opportunities on the continent. As well as the west, India, Brazil and Russia are also looking for business.