CULTURAL BOND: Chinese President Hu Jintao talks to a Mauritian student at the Chinese Culture Center in Mauritius on February 17 (JU PENG)

Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit to Africa exemplified three leading features of China's policy toward Africa: all-round cooperation, unwavering assistance and commitment to promises. During his fourth tour to Africa as Chinese president, Hu visited Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius from February 12 to 17, highlighting common interests between China and Africa amid the global financial crisis.

At a time when both China and Africa are struggling to come to terms with the devastating impact of the ongoing financial crisis, Hu's visit showed determination to tackle difficulties through mutually beneficial cooperation, experts said.

Friends in need

At a meeting with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, Hu said China would not reduce its aid to Africa as a result of its efforts to address the financial crisis. China will keep the promises it made at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November 2006.

China will urge the international community to pay attention to the difficulties Africa is facing in the financial crisis, maintain its aid input, Hu said. China is ready to better coordinate with Senegal and other African countries in an effort to weather the crisis, he added.

Against the backdrop of the financial crisis, African countries have high expectations for China, said Xu Weizhong, an expert on African studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). They not only suffer from decreasing export revenue in the wake of raw material price drops, but also worry about possible decline in international assistance. In this sense, China's pledge to promote trade and investment ties and not to cut assistance is reassuring, he said.

WORKING TOGETHER: Chinese President Hu Jintao holds talks with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar on February 13 (RAO AIMIN)

He Wenping, an African affairs expert at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed Xu's views. A major challenge for both China and Africa is reduced demand from European and American markets, she said, so it is important for them to expand trade with each other.

In terms of investment, Chinese companies can play a big role in Africa's resources exploitation, infrastructure construction, agriculture and manufacturing industry, she said.

Not just energy

In an interview with Chinese and foreign media in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Hu said his African tour was aimed at "cementing friendship, deepening cooperation, dealing with challenges and seeking common development.

"China will fully and punctually implement measures agreed upon at the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC, seek China-Africa pragmatic cooperation and promote the further development of our new strategic partnership," he said.