China on Monday rolled out the red carpet for leaders from across Africa, seeking to deepen ties with the resource-rich continent it has furnished with billions in loans for infrastructure and development.

Beijing has said this week's China-Africa forum will be its largest diplomatic event since the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than a dozen leaders and delegations expected.

China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its megaprojects while tapping the continent's vast natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.

Its vast loans to the continent have funded infrastructure but also stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts.

China, the world's number two economy, is Africa's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting $167.8 billion in the first half of this year, according to Chinese state media.

Security is tight across Beijing, with roads and bus stops bedecked with banners declaring China and the continent are "joining hands for a brighter future".

Among the leaders in the capital is South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who arrived early Monday for a four-day visit during which he will also visit the southern tech powerhouse city of Shenzhen.

Trade between China and South Africa soared to $38.8 billion in 2023, according to the South African presidency.

Ramaphosa is set to take part in a welcoming ceremony Monday at Beijing's ornate Great Hall of People and lay a wreath "in honour of Chinese revolutionaries" in Tiananmen Square, his office said.

The two countries will sign a number of agreements focused on "enhancing economic cooperation and the implementation of technical cooperation", it added.

- Expanding influence -

On Monday, President Xi Jinping met with Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi, state news agency Xinhua said.

China has a significant presence in the DRC, where it is keen on tapping vast natural resources including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.

But it has grappled with security issues in the country -- in July, local sources told AFP that a militia attack on a mining site in gold-rich Ituri province killed at least four Chinese nationals.

Leaders of Djibouti -- home to China's first overseas military base -- as well as Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Mali and others, also arrived in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.

Beijing's loans to African nations last year were their highest in five years, research by the Chinese Loans to Africa Database found. Top borrowers were Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya.

But the data showed that loans were well down compared to highs in 2016, when they totalled almost $30 billion.

And the loans were increasingly to local banks, researchers said, helping to avoid "exposing Chinese creditors to credit risks associated with those countries".

Analysts say an economic slowdown in China has made Beijing increasingly reluctant to shell out big sums.

This week's summit comes as African leaders eye mounting great power competition between the US and China over resources and influence on the continent.

Washington has warned against what it sees as Beijing's malign influence.

In 2022, the White House said China sought to "advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests (and) undermine transparency and openness".