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BEIJING : Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao headed to Egypt on Friday for a summit with African leaders as Beijing bids to expand its diplomatic and economic influence on the resource-rich continent.
Wen will hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation begins on Sunday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Chinese companies have been pouring investments into oil and other raw materials in Africa to fuel the country's booming economy.
At the last China-Africa summit in Beijing in 2006, China pledged hefty aid and vowed to step up its trade relations with the continent.
"China's aid and assistance to African countries is long-term and continuous," foreign minister spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters last week, saying a road map for cooperation in 2010-2012 would be adopted at the meeting.
Direct Chinese investment in Africa soared from 491 million dollars in 2003 to 7.8 billion dollars in 2008. Trade between the two has increased tenfold since the start of the decade.
Wen was accompanied by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Commerce Minister Chen Deming, along with other senior officials, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Some Western critics have accused China of worsening repression and human rights abuses in Africa by supporting countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe in its drive to gain access to vital natural resources.
But other observers have said the closer ties between the two sides are focused on industries that would improve African development such as agriculture, electric power, transportation and water drainage.
China is also seen as a key player in ending the six-year war between the Sudanese government and rebels in Darfur. It is a leading weapons supplier to Sudan and importer of its oil.
- AFP/vm
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