1. China in Africa

China, S. Africa ink $2.5 billion in deals in Dalai Lama's shadow
China has agreed to $2.5 billion in investment projects with South Africa, the African nation's deputy president said on Thursday, on a three-day trip to China during which he brushed off controversy over a potential visit by the Dalai Lama.
Read More

PetroSA signs pact with Chinese
PetroSA signed a memorandum of understanding with the China International United Petroleum and Chemicals Company (Unipec), the South African oil giant said in a statement. This would enable them to discuss a suitable business arrangement in the purchase and sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
Read More

China pledges further aid for drought-hit Horn of Africa
China will offer further aid to drought-hit countries in the Horn of Africa, including medicine and medical equipment, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday. "China has kept a close eye on the latest developments in the disaster and will offer more aid within its capacity to do so," spokesman Hong Lei said during a regular news briefing. According to Hong, China is "actively considering" providing medical equipment and medicine to the region.
Read More

China: Africa: Zambia, the new president calls for respect, acknowledgement of locals' rights, from Chinese firms
President Michael Sata invites Chinese investors to respect workers, to benefit both sides. Yesterday, speaking at a conference, the newly elected head of state stressed that "once Zambia and China were close allies, but over the years there have been worrisome incidents requiring a correction of relations." According to Sata, investment from Beijing must bring wealth also to the citizens of Zambia, and not only to China.
Read More

Zambia's new President Sata sets new mining rules for China
Days after Michael Sata, the populist opposition leader with the anti-Chinese rhetoric, won election as new president of Zambia, Chinese mine investors gave their Zambian employees a raise. At the Chinese-owned Chambishi Copper Mine in this Copperbelt town, mine operator Hedges Mwaba, received two different paychecks: one for his usual salary of 2.9 million kwacha ($600 US) and another 4.8 million (about $1000). Mr. Mwaba assumes this was a mistake, of course. But he also says it indicates that the mine owners were worried enough about a possible victory by Mr. Sata’s Patriotic Front party that they prepared two separate runs of paychecks: a standard run in case Sata lost, and an 85 percent raise in case Sata won.
Read More

China's ZTE wins two contracts despite corruption allegation
Despite mounting allegations of corruption and criticism of illegally bringing Chinese foreign nationals to work on its telecom projects in Africa, China's ZTE has been awarded contracts to build nationwide fiber networks in South Africa and Burundi.
Read More

China Injects U.S.$40 Million in Tazara Railway
China has granted a soft loan of US$39.9 m for strengthening the Tanzania and Zambia Railways Authority (TAZARA) whose performance has drastically gone down. The loan would be spent on 11 areas including purchase of six new locomotive engines, rehabilitation of nine more and purchase of 90 new cargo carriages and rehabilitation of four cranes and two rescue cranes.
Read More

China-Arab/Africa Co-op Forum opens
The second China-Arab/Africa Medium and Small Businesses Cooperation Forum was unveiled in Weifang, east China's Shandong province Tuesday. Sun Jiazheng, vice-chairman of the 11th National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, said the cooperation between China and countries of West Asia and Africa has become closer in recent years, especially in the field of economics and trade. The bilateral trade volume has been steadily increasing for consecutive years.
Read More

2. In Other Emerging Powers News

Trade between South Africa and Russia is beginning to take off
South Africa and Russia could double their trade this year in comparison to last year, indicated Russian Natural Resources and Ecology Minister Yuri Trutnev. He was speaking in Pretoria on Thursday during the second and last day of the tenth meeting of the bilateral Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (Itec).
Read More

3. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

For Some Brazilian Farmers Africa Is the New Frontier
Frademir Saccol is Brazilian and, until late 2008, lived a peaceful life in the city of Guaíba, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, working on agricultural financing projects in the region. Saccol is still working in agriculture, but now, instead of Rio Grande do Sul, he lives in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in Africa.
Read More

Chinese built agricultural demonstration center in Zimbabwe almost complete
The training center in Zimbabwe was begun in October 2009 and is now almost complete. It is on a leading pre-existing agricultural college, Gwebi, located 27 km out of capital city Harare. The new center covers an area of approximately 109 hectares, and includes a demonstration field of 80 ha. The first crops are expected to be planted in October, just before the onset of Zimbabwe's rain season. The crops to be planted include the maize, wheat, soya beans and potatoes.
Read More

What does China want in international economic reforms?
China is likely to play an important part in the transformation of the international economic system. It is already the second-largest economy in the world according to market-based GDP measures and may overtake the US as early as 2013 according to the purchasing power parity-based GDP measures. China’s international economic influences have grown exponentially, especially in international markets for labour-intensive manufactured goods, raw materials and commodities and foreign exchange. Given the significant role it is likely to play in the process, a key question for reforming the international economic system is: what does China want?
Read More