Hu Jintao, China’s president, has arrived in Cameroon on the first leg of an eight-nation tour of Africa, in which he is set to dole out soft loans ‘without political conditions’, according to the Chinese commerce ministry.

The ministry’s restatement on the eve of Mr Hu’s departure of China’s well-settled position on aid was a pointed reminder that Beijing will continue to carve out its own path in Africa despite rising criticism in the west.