page_title: Africa–China relations
section_title: Decolonisation and Contemporary relations
hierarchical_section_title: Africa–China relations / Decolonisation and Contemporary relations
caption_attribution_description: 中文: 1964-04 1964年1月30日 中国访问埃塞俄比亚 周恩来与海尔·塞拉西一世
context_page_description: Sino-African relations refers to the historical, political, economic, military, social and cultural connections between China and the African continent.
  Little is known about ancient relations between China and the African continent, though there is some evidence of early trade connections. Highlights of medieval contacts were the 14th-century journey of Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan scholar and traveller, to parts of China; the 14th-century visit of Sa'id of Mogadishu, the Somali scholar and explorer, to China; and the 15th-century Ming dynasty voyages of Chinese admiral Zheng He and his fleet, which rounded the coast of Somalia, passing the Ajuran Sultanate, and followed the coast down to the Mozambique Channel.
  Modern political and economic relations commenced in the era of Mao Zedong, following the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War. Starting in the 21st century, the modern state of the People's Republic of China has built increasingly strong economic ties with Africa. There are an estimated one million Chinese citizens residing in Africa. Additionally, it has been estimated that 200,000 Africans are working in China.
context_section_description: The establishment of modern Sino-African relations began in the late 1950s, when China signed bilateral trade agreements with Algeria, Egypt, Guinea, Somalia, Morocco and Sudan. Zhou Enlai made a ten-country tour to Africa between December 1963 and January 1964. Zhou Enlai visited Ghana and established close relations with Kwame Nkrumah, who desired a united Africa. Relations at that time were often reflective of China's foreign policy in general: China  "began to cultivate ties and offer ... economic, technical and military support to African countries and liberation movements in an effort to encourage wars of national liberation and revolution as part of an international united front against both superpowers". China had also supported Africa during its struggle against European colonialism.
caption: In the 1960s, the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relationships with a host of African countries in quick succession. Pictured is Premier Zhou Enlai meeting with Emperor Haile Selassie on a visit to Ethiopia in 1964.
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2018:10:06 17:56:10", "Image ExifOffset": "2242", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4516", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11606", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:01:29 22:56:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:01:29 22:56:31", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "48", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "48", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}