ISAS Insights

The Chinese President Hu Jintao’s brief stopover in Mauritius in February 2009, as part of his four-nation African tour, does not fit in with the widespread perceptions of Beijing’s resource diplomacy. On the eve of President Hu’s second African tour in barely two years, which included Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius, Chinese officials were eager to counter the notion that China’s African diplomacy was all about resources. Pointing out that the four African states on Hu’s itinerary were not known for mineral wealth, Chinese officials insisted that Beijing’s interest in Africa “isn’t confined to energy and resources”.