Johannesburg — POLITICAL and economic ties between China and Africa are growing at a rate that has the rest of the world sitting up and taking notice. President Mwai Kibaki is among African heads of state and government attending the Beijing Summit on China-Africa co-operation.

That nearly 40 leaders from Africa will be present for the Beijing gathering provides a clear illustration of the importance the continent attaches to the growing links with the emerging eastern colossus.

The summit aims to foster friendship, co-operation and economic links. But it might come to be seen in some quarters as yet further evidence of China moving to position itself in Africa at the expense of western powers. It would be a mistake to see it that way.

China is a growing economic superpower with increasing interests in Africa, and it is hungry for the continent's abundant resources.

Kenya is just one of the African countries that have attracted a succession of visits from top Chinese government and ruling party leaders, and signed a raft of agreements on matters as diverse as trade, development aid, cultural co-operation, and oil exploration. President Kibaki made a highly successful state visit to China last year.

Sino-African relations must be cultivated and nurtured for mutual benefit, but thinking which harks back to the east-west divide and the Cold War must be discarded. Those who might have cause for concern that their past primacy on the continent is under threat should realise that international relationships are dynamic.

By the same token, China and Africa must not see the growing partnerships as driven primarily by the need to curtail western influence. The emerging links must not be tied to any new pushing and shoving in global geopolitics. Let us look at China not just as a counterweight to the west but as a giant emerging market with a possibly insatiable appetite for what we have to offer.