RELATIONSHIP CONSOLIDATED

Vines said Premier Li's visit was about consolidating the China-Africa relationship.

"We are in a multi-polar world with many different relationships," he said. "And African governments in particular can choose. So, for example, the trip of Premier Li to Angola shows just how important that relationship is, particularly for Angola but also for China. I think we will see Western countries working harder at their relationships with Africa."

Brooks said the visit was likely in the short term to create "a lot of buzz and excitement" but the important legacy would be in trade and business links.

"I don't think the relationship between Africa and China is going to be defined by a visit like this. Instead it is the businesses which come before the visit and the new enterprises which open in their wake," he said.

"So visits like this maybe highlight attention but really it is the businesses and the interactions between individual Chinese people and African people which shape the relationship rather than the high-level policy makers which always determine what happens between two regions of the world," said Brooks.

There was a "remarkable continuity in terms of China's approach to Africa," said Brooks.

"Many of the soundbites and terms which are coming out of Premier Li's visit are very similar to (former Chinese president) Hu Jintao back in 2006. The phrases, the ideas, and the soundbites which keep occurring are ideas around South-South cooperation, friendship and mutual dependency," said Brooks.

Li's trip was "mostly about consolidation," said Vines.

"There have been some announcements about more loans, more infrastructure projects, but more or less it is the same sort of message that has happened previously with previous investments. It is about consolidation and continuing to grow the relationship," he said.