China-Africa ties set to expand

China is set to become Africa's largest trading partner in a few years, eclipsing the continent's centuries-old ties with Europe. Yet for all the growth in recent years, China-Africa trade has been largely confined to exports of oil and other mineral resources from Africa and, until recently, exports of textiles, clothing and low-value machinery from China.

The components of this trade are changing fast, however. Exports of high-end machinery, telecom devices, electronic and electrical products, and automobiles from China to Africa have risen sharply in the past few years. These high-end items now account for the majority of China's exports to Africa, and support its growing involvement in building infrastructure across the continent and rising investments in Africa's energy and minerals exploration sector.

In the other direction, natural resources are likely to dominate Africa's exports to China in the coming years given China's growing appetite for energy and its push to diversify its energy and mineral sources away from the Middle East. A third of China's oil imports now come from Africa.