China signs deals with Ethiopia as premier starts Africa tour

By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – China signed a raft of agreements with Ethiopia on Sunday as Premier Li Keqiang arrived for the first leg of his four-nation Africa tour aimed at shoring up burgeoning Sino-Africa ties that saw their trade top $200 billion last year. This is Li's first visit to Africa since he became premier last year, and follows a trip to the continent by President Xi Jinping in March 2013, when he renewed an offer of $20 billion in loans to Africa between 2013 and 2015. Africans broadly see China as a healthy counterbalance to Western influence but there are growing calls from policymakers and economists for more balanced trade relations. In Ethiopia, Chinese firms have invested heavily in recent years with their worth swelling well over $1 billion in 2014, according to official figures.