Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to South Africa to attend the fifth BRICS summit in Durban is of crucial importance for Sino-Africa relations. That Xi is visiting Africa on his first overseas trip after becoming president is historic. It shows that Africa's strategic importance for China is increasing.

In fact, China has made it clear that Africa is of strategic importance in its international relations and cooperation. Xi's visit to Africa provides enormous opportunity for expanding relations between Africa and China. China's commitment to expanding Sino-Africa relations calls on the country's new leadership to take appropriate measures to that end and to the satisfaction of African people.

China's intensified engagement with Africa, however, has also given rise to tensions between some of its companies and African workers, which are often played up by the Western media. There is no doubt that Chinese companies, just like their counterparts from developed countries, seek to make profit. The strategic issues guiding the operations of transnational corporations and their use of foreign investment are necessary to understand the key reasons behind Chinese companies' operation in Africa.