A huge mining deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and China is getting extra scrutiny as critics say it does not provide enough benefits for ordinary Congolese. But the government says it is crucial to the country’s development. The $9 billion deals call for China to loan $6 billion for infrastructure development and $3 billion for helping revamp the mining sector in exchange for access to mining interests, including cobalt and copper fields. Opposition leaders from the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo say the Congolese government’s contract with China is not a good deal. Congo’s Deputy Minister of Mines Victor Kasongo says "The Western world did not have all that level of money to do that, so now we got the assistance coming from the Asian country."
Source: Voice of America, May 16, 2008
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/w2008-05-16-voa2.cfm