Beijing reveals strategy shift in Sino-Africa ties ahead of Li Keqiang's four-nation visit

Premier Li Keqiang will announce more aid to Africa during his four-nation tour to the continent starting next Monday, as China shifts its bilateral focus from energy and trade deals to boosting the African people's livelihood, senior officials say.

The move comes amid criticisms that Beijing’s growing economic interests in the region could be harmful to local economies and could exacerbate the foreign exploitation of resources.

More than 60 agreements will be signed with Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya during Li’s week-long visit – his first tour to Africa since rising to the post in March last year – according to officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry.

Li will deliver a keynote speech on Sino-African ties in the African Union, whose Ethiopian headquarters was funded by China, and the World Economic Forum on Africa, a regional meeting of the Davos fixture, in Nigeria.

The four countries he will visit are among Africa’s top 15 largest economies. Angola is China's biggest source of crude oil, while Kenya is home to various UN agency headquarters, a foreign ministry official explained.

China’s presence in Africa has grown in recent years, funnelling billions of dollars into mining, infrastructure and foreign aid funding. Last year, President Xi Jinping pledged US$20 billion in loans between last year to 2015.

In 2012, China made a grand gesture by funding the US$200 million Addis Ababa headquarters of the African Union, the 54-nation political association seen as Africa’s equivalent of the European Union.