Qiang Varma told reporters after the ceremony that the agreement would “help accelerate the China-Africa cooperation.”

Africa has suffered under US pressure and even aid constraints in many ways in the past, particularly during the civil wars in the 1990s when the US-backed, US-armed governments in Angola, Ethiopia and other nations were blamed for killing and displacing indigenous people.

In 2011, as part of the 2012 China-Africa Forum, US President Barack Obama called the US-backed policies “cruel” and called for them to be ended. It was the first time since the 1960s in which US diplomatic representatives were allowed to address the forum.

Obama also called for the US to remove its trade and financial restrictions on its continent. The US trade embargo against Africa, however, still exists for humanitarian purposes that are not allowed because of US trade restrictions and African nations claim they need aid to help pay for the embargo.

China’s role in Africa has expanded to its influence in South and West Africa, especially in East, where China continues as a regional hegemon to this day and continues as a major investor in Africa. These include projects such as the railway in Liberia and several other railways and power lines over the African continent.

But China can also be found helping the Africans build the infrastructure that is needed to bring electricity to their homes through a variety of projects such as power stations and solar farm projects. It has also been seen helping the Africans develop the railways to bring services to their communities.

China also has the most active and well-resourced trading relationships with African countries today despite its limited capacity to influence in the region.

In 2013, for example China donated $3.2 billion to build the Zimbabwe-Nairobi railway – an infrastructure project that runs through areas of Africa that have been hit hard by the global economic crisis.

Even as China’s growing ties to Africa extend into the growing global middle class, the Chinese government is beginning to worry that China’s economic dominance will lead China to become a world power – a fear that has never been articulated in an official Chinese official announcement in more than two decades but which nonetheless has created enormous anxiety and suspicion in Africa.

In March this year, China’s State Council – China’s cabinet – issued a warning of an emerging international economic crisis.

“Our economic development is already hampered by a growing mismatch of our demands with global trends