Another good China article in the Washington Post today, this one on the deepening ties with Africa, a follow-up article to the recent Beijing summit. It seems that not only is China paying more attention to Africa than many Western countries, but the quality of that relationship has some fundamental differences with that of past Western-African ties.

African business leaders increasingly are staking their fortunes on old-fashioned extractive industries, such as oil production needed to fuel Asian industry, while also attempting to profit from the flood of finished goods coming in return.

Although the model stirs memories of the kind of economic relationships once common between European powers and their vassal states here, Africans say the Chinese at least treat them as equals and invest in infrastructure projects key to the continent’s future.

Let’s face it. Beijing is getting really good at the international relations game.