Accra — More than 40 African heads of state and ministers, including our President, John Agyekum Kufuor are in Beijing for a summit with China on trade and investment.

There is no doubt that China has stolen the wind out of the 21 Century, recording the most phenomenal economic growth in recent times. As its economy booms, China's drive to buy African oil and other commodities has led to a big increase in two-way trade, worth $42bn (£22bn) in 2005. Africa is also a growing market for Chinese goods. But some analysts say China's new policy towards Africa is all part of its broad push into Africa, aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources.

For this reason, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of Africa's 54 countries, including Sudan and Zimbabwe, two countries with bad human rights records.

In the area of aid and construction, China should be given a pat on the shoulders, however, China's dexterity in duplicating African patents, especially in the textile sector is gradually killing that sector in many parts of Africa. Ghana's is a sad case study. In a space of two decades 23,000 workers in Ghana's textile sector have lost their jobs because Ghana's clothing industry has fallen victim to a flood of cheap Asian textiles, mostly from China. Now the sector that used to employ around 25,000 workers employs a mere 2000 workers country wide.

This explains why Ghanaian industries have cause to worry about China' s growing influence in Ghana and to a large extent Africa, due to the fact that cheap Chinese goods are already crowing out many Ghanaian products simply because Ghana over the years has emerged as a loyal pupil of IMF/World Bank free market policies. A fundamental question to pose then is: what is Ghana's strategic vision regarding China in the next two decades given that even the developed societies of the world and indeed other developing nations are aggressively courting her?

Ghana must make the most out of her relationship with China. To start with, we must negotiate all trade agreements on equal footing so that both countries can benefit. Any agreement should exploit how China can help our infant industries become competitive, rather than crowding them out through unfair trade practices. China should be encouraged to go into agro-processing with the aim of linking agriculture to industry.

Also the government should be able to get the Chinese leaders to agree on a scholarship scheme to enable Ghanaian students to study the Chinese philosophy and development paradigm to assist the country develop technologically based on a sound human resources development.

All said, improved cooperation with China is not a bad idea, but it should be mutually beneficial. It is completely unconscionable that almost twenty-eight years after Deng Xiaoping's opening up and reform (kaifang yu gaige) Ghana, one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of China and one that aided her to regain her seat on the Security Council in 1971 has no China Policy Document. However the Chinese sages provide some comfort: "A journey of thousand miles begins with a step." And some admonition: "Talk does not cook rice."