President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has praised China's programme of investment in developing African countries while criticising Western firms for exploiting the continent.
Mr Kagame says China's given Africa what it really needs but the West continues to exploit the continent.
He told a German newspaper that huge Chinese investment in African companies and infrastructure is helping Africa develop.
The BBC reports annual trade between China and Africa is now worth more than $US100 billion.
Chinese companies are active across Africa, but have been criticised by some in the West, who accuse Beijing of failing to promote good governance.
Chinese firms, many of them state-owned, regularly bid for major construction projects at costs which Western firms cannot match.
In addition, Beijing also operates a policy of non-interference in
domestic affairs.
The BBC reports that allows China to do business in areas of Africa, such as Sudan, where Western firms are constrained by human rights concerns.
Trade wanted over aid
Although Rwanda received substantial international aid in the wake of the 1994 genocide, which left more than 800,000 dead, Mr Kagame told Handelsblatt that relations based more on trade than aid were now the most useful to Africa.
He said he would prefer the Western world to invest in Africa rather than handing out development aid.
Mr Kagame also said that high trade tariffs prevent African producers from gaining equitable access to global markets.
