It would be hard to conjure up a grander gesture to mark the state of relations between China and Africa than the new $200m Chinese-built headquarters of the African Union.
It has descended in time for this year’s heads of state summit like a giant spaceship dominating the skyline in Addis Ababa, a symbol of modernity among the nearby shanty towns and unpaved roads that give parts of the Ethiopian capital the flavour of a village.
“China, its amazing re-emergence and its commitments for a win-win partnership with Africa, is one of the reasons for the beginning of the African renaissance,” said Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister, in his opening remarks to the two-day summit that ended yesterday.