PRETORIA: Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Africa bearing the usual gifts of money for soccer stadiums and interest-free loans, but also acknowledging tensions over mounting trade imbalances, the practices of some Chinese investors and the risks of doing business with countries defined as rogue states by Washington.

Unmentioned, as Beijing adds lustre to Africa’s renewed status as a strategic ally, is the possibility of a clash with the United States as the two vie for resources and influence on the continent. Another source of possible conflict is China's sale of arms to countries accused of human rights violations.

Mr Hu's eight-nation, 12-day tour has taken him to Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. On Thursday he arrived in Mozambique and wraps up his tour in the Seychelles on Saturday.

Mr Hu was met by flag-waving crowds and standing ovations. But he also had to deal with pressure to influence Sudan's government about the murderous conflict in Darfur. In Liberia, there were rumours a leading legislator received a handout from Taiwan. Clothing manufacturers in Zambia charged cheap Chinese goods were destroying their business. As synthetic fabrics displace cotton prints in street markets across the continent, South Africa's textile union says some 100,000 jobs have been lost and last year threatened to boycott anyone selling Chinese products.

Mr Hu's delegation cancelled a visit to Zambia's Copperbelt, where Beijing is setting up an economic cooperation zone expected to draw $800 million in new mining investments, fearing protests.

South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki last year warned against allowing Chinese forays into Africa to become a neo-colonialist adventure, with African raw materials exchanged for shoddy manufactured imports, and little attention to developing an impoverished continent.

Mr Hu was at pains to change that perception. In a speech to South African university students, he emphasised `economic win-win cooperation’. In Namibia, he counselled managers of Chinese companies on bearing social responsibility and promoting harmony with local people, China's state television reported. It appeared to be the first time Mr Hu has addressed issues facing Chinese companies operating in Africa.

Most Chinese business here is conducted by state companies. Hundreds have invested in thousands of projects including oil exploration and refining, mines, fishing, precious woods, telecommunications and major infrastructure, especially roads.

China says its trade with Africa soared to $39.7 billion last year, overtaking former coloniser Britain to become Africa's third largest trading partner after the United States and France. China's biggest African trade partner is South Africa. Their trade climbed to $240 million last year while South Africa’s trade deficit with China mounted from $24 million in 1992 to more than $400 million now.

Importantly, Mr Hu promised to increase imports of African products to balance the deficit, though it was hard to see how that would be feasible.

“He's got a proliferation of important folks on the continent raising questions around, 'At what price is this expansive engagement (with China) going to be delivered?'” said J. Stephen Morrison, Africa program director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has published a report on Chinese-Africa relations and how they affect the United States.

Chinese officials `are beginning to recognise that they have some problems in Africa’, he said.

Morrison said China's policy of non-interference, such as in Sudan's Darfur conflict, is untenable. There, the government is accused of funding militias and allowing its military to brutalise civilians.

Until recently, China resisted using its economic clout to influence Sudanese officials. But Mr Hu `took a big step, for the Chinese’, Morrison said, when he visited Sudan last week and urged its leader to allow the United Nations a bigger role in Darfur, where poorly equipped African peacekeepers have failed to defend civilians.

China has contributed to peacekeeping in Africa, sending hundreds of troops to UN missions in Liberia and Congo.

In Sudan, Mr Hu probably was responding to pressures, including threats from American human rights activists to damage Beijing's image as it prepares to host next year's Summer Olympics.

China opposes any sanctions against Sudan and would be sure to fight a new proposal for the United States to sanction companies that do business in Sudan. China buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil, sells it weapons and military aircraft and is its biggest investor.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has accused Chinese banks of ignoring human rights and environmental standards in Africa. He warned that the Chinese surge in lending could fuel corruption and debt burdens.

From Liberia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, China is increasingly involved in peacekeeping operations: in 2004 it contributed more than 1,500 troops to the UN presence across the continent. While acknowledging that any final decision rests with the African Union, China has publicly supported the three African candidates - South Africa, Egypt and, in particular, Nigeria - for a permanent seat on the security council.

Just as China is having to rethink its strategy in Africa, so should the United States, Morrison said in the report he co-authored.

“China's ambitious, new high-profile role in Africa challenges the United States to think far more comprehensively and strategically,” the report says. “A part of that challenge, for both the United States and China, will be trying to avoid the trap of a damaging and unnecessary strategic competition in Africa.”—AP