Is a raw deal all Africa's going to get from its partnership with China? Or is this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the continent? Here's what some African newspapers think about the Sino-African Forum on Cooperation, held in Beijing last weekend.

"Not a bad idea," says Ghana's Public Agenda, referring to stronger cooperation with China. But its approval isn't unqualified. The paper examines the negative impact of cheap Chinese textile imports flooding into Ghana, which it says have put 23,000 out of 25,000 textile workers out of work in the past 20 years.

Ghana needs to get the most out of this relationship, but has to ensure that any agreement with the Asian giant is on an equal footing. Ghana needs to be taught how to make its industries competitive, not allow them to be ruined by unfair trade practices, it concludes.

A new scramble for Africa has begun, announces Amos Safo, columnist for the same Ghanaian newspaper. Africa's ore, platinum, cotton and, most importantly, oil are all on China's shopping list.

Safo concludes: "...the new scrambler (China) for Africa has its good and bad sides, just as the previous scramblers (Europe) milked Africa dry and continue to do so. It is left with Africa to bargain properly...After the summit, both China and Africa should be winners."

Both sides have something to offer: Africa with its raw materials and China with development funds, loans, manufacturing technology and management skills, says Ken Kamoche, a Hong Kong-based professor of management, in Kenya's Nation. China's role in Africa will remain controversial until it ensures fair investment and trading terms for its partners and abandons its old-fashioned policy of non-involvement in the internal affairs of corrupt and badly governed African countries, he concludes.

Uganda's New Vision has the same message: the terms of trade in this relationship mustn't "tilt heavily" against Africa. China's economic growth pattern is more relevant to African countries than Western models, the paper believes, and loans and credit are more readily available when needed.

On that note, East African Business Week shrugs off U.S. and European criticisms over China's dealings with undemocratic regimes in Africa: "...the West has openly said in many instances that Africa was deemed too risky to do business. The Chinese filled the void."

The paper mentions India as another important player for Africa and cites a World Bank study showing that India and China are the destination for 27 percent of the continent's exports - three times more than in 1990. Indeed, some Indian newspapers have labelled China's recent push in Africa as a "wake-up call" for India and urge the South Asian country to revive its historic links with the continent.

Finally, Bubacarr Ceesay of AllGambian.net laments the fact that ordinary citizens in Africa will have little or no say in how the money earned from partnership with China is spent.

"If only these funds will be utilized for the purpose of nation building to enhance the quality of living of the impoverished African people, and not the usual looting by the recursive supply of military-turned-civilian dictators and corrupt officials," he concludes. "All we can do is just hope, and hope..."

Here are AlertNet's previous blogs on the China-Africa relationship: China seduces Africa while West watches China in Africa is not all bad news Chinese colonialism in Africa