Focus on China's goals as Egypt talks set to open

With developed markets either saturated or entry requirements too high, Chinese firms see Africa as a great untapped market, added Duncan Innes-Ker, Beijing-based China analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“When it comes to other parts of the world, it is true that the requirements that come along with investment, like labour and environment standards, essentially negate the main advantage China has, which is a lot of cheap money and an ability to do things very well at the moderate cost end of the scale,” he said.

“A lot of it comes down to where Chinese firms have their comparative advantage, and these are fast-growing markets,” Innes-Ker added. “Chinese companies are well placed to exploit that, as unlike a lot of Western companies they’re used to operating in a market where you have to be flexible.” (Reuters)