By Paul Simao

PRETORIA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Resource-rich Africa should increase trade and strengthen ties with China to secure its development and stake in the global economy, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Monday.

On the first stop of a four-nation swing through Africa, Yang told reporters in Pretoria, South Africa, that China and its partners in Africa would benefit from closer cooperation in a number of areas, including trade and investment.

"If you view development against the backdrop of globalisation, I think there is all the more reason for China and African countries to work better to support each other," Yang said in a press conference in Pretoria.

Yang's visit is the latest of a number by high-ranking Chinese officials as Beijing taps Africa for resources to fuel its energy-hungry economy. China's growing presence has rattled Western countries that have dominated trade on the continent.

Yang added that China's relationship with South Africa, the most industrialised nation in Africa, had blossomed since the two countries established diplomatic relations 10 years ago.

The Chinese foreign minister, who will also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Ethiopia, said China and South Africa had agreed to hold high-level talks at least once a year to focus on political, economic and trade issues.

He said the two shared common views on several fronts, including how to establish peace in Sudan's Darfur region.

Sudan is a key oil supplier for Beijing but a diplomatic liability as Western countries push China to use its leverage on Khartoum, which has been accused of backing militias that have killed and raped civilians and destroyed villages in Darfur.

Some 200,000 people have died in the conflict.

"Both sides hope that there will be parallel progress in peacekeeping operations and in the political process in that area," Yang said after meeting South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Yang added that China hoped that political dialogue would bring peace and stability to Kenya, where hundreds have been killed in post-election violence.

China, the world's fourth-largest economy and second-largest energy user, has extended billions in oil-backed loans and other credit to several African nations, with few strings attached, unlike financing from Western banks and international agencies.

The funding allowed Angola, which has a reputation as a corruption-plagued ex-Soviet client state, to turn down a more restrictive loan from the International Monetary Fund. (Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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