Xi uses Africa trip to soothe influence fears Reassurance: Xi Jinping (left) and his host, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, watch a traditional welcome dance. The Chinese President arrived in Dar es Salaam on Monday as part of a two-day visit. China's new President, Xi Jinping, has sought to assure African countries his government will heed complaints that relentlessly competitive Chinese companies are suffocating African efforts to nurture industry and jobs. Mr Xi delivered his defence of China's economic stake in the continent in a speech on Monday in Dar es Salaam, the seaside economic hub of Tanzania. On his first tour abroad as national leader, he promised aid, scholarships and technology transfers. The speech was seen as a bid to counter fears voiced by some African officials that China's dominance as an exporter of cheap garments, appliances and other goods, and its appetite for unprocessed raw materials, have skewed economic ties and undermined African hopes to advance into industrialisation. In his speech, Mr Xi argued that China was helping Africa to grow. But more directly than his predecessor, Hu Jintao, he acknowledged that the relationship also faced strains. "China frankly faces up to the new circumstances and new problems in Sino-African relations," Mr Xi said. China has and will continue to work alongside African countries to take practical measures to appropriately solve problems in trade and economic co-operation, so that African countries gain more from that co-operation. Mr Xi gave his speech in a conference centre built with Chinese loans and support - a symbol of the generosity he sought to emphasise, but potentially also of the competitive power that has irked some African politicians, trade unions and businesses. China's trade with all African countries, including North African nations such as Libya and Egypt, reached $US198 billion ($190 billion) in total value last year, a rise of 19.3 per cent compared with 2011, according to Chinese customs statistics. Commodities from resource-rich African countries make up much of that trade. Trade unions and manufacturers in South Africa, Nigeria and other countries have said China's relatively cheap manufactured goods are a threat to jobs and long-term growth. "China takes our primary goods and sells us manufactured ones," the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, wrote in the Financial Times this month. This was also the essence of colonialism. Mr Xi said China would abide by a promise last year to provide $US20 billion in loans over three years for African infrastructure development, farming and businesses. He also announced a plan to provide training for 30,000 Africans over the next three years. Mr Xi flew to Tanzania from Russia and he will next visit South Africa to attend a summit of the so-called BRICS emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. His final stop will be the Republic of Congo.