Last year China surpassed the United States and Europe to become Africa’s largest trading partner. However, in a recent comment, Nigeria’s central bank governor said China’s trade policies are exhibiting behaviors of "colonialism" as its importing raw materials from Africa, and then delivering finished goods back to the continent. China’s Ministry of Commerce held a press conference today and responded to that statement.

"We don’t agree with the governor’s opinions, and advise the governor to study the history of western colonialism thoroughly. The economic cooperation between Africa and China is fundamentally different versus so called colonialism,” said Shen Danyang, spokesman of Ministry of Commerce.

“As mentioned China imports a wide variety of products from Africa, it’s a move following international conventions and market rules. It could help Africa to break up western countries’ monopoly, and promote the diversification of its exporting products. In fact, China is not only importing many products from Africa, but also importing more and more manufactured goods from the continent as well."