A casual visitor to Angola might be tempted to conclude the country has been taken over by China . Barely a street in the capital does not boast a team of Chinese engineers hard at work repairing its rundown infrastructure.

In the second city of Huambo, Prof Henrique Mendes the city's head of planning requires nearly a minute to list China's commitments ranging from building hospitals, schools, stadiums and a polytechnic to renovating the water system.