More than 2,500 separate business deals will be "under discussion" at the three-day event in Beijing starting on Friday, according to Chinese officials, and it is highly likely some of the biggest will revolve around oil.

More than 40 African leaders will be in the Chinese capital for the event, representing some of China's most important oil suppliers.

China imported 38 million tons of crude oil from Africa in 2005, or 30 percent of its total imports, according to state figures.

Those numbers have grown rapidly as Beijing looks increasingly to African oil to help fuel double-digit growth in China's economy -- the world's fourth largest with a fast-modernizing population of 1.3 billion people.

By the start of this year, China had investments in 27 major oil and natural gas projects in 14 African countries, according to the Chinese government, and in recent months it has taken further stakes in nations such as Kenya, Angola and Nigeria.

Analysts warn China could be on a collision course with the United States and Western nations due to competing interests for energy resources in Africa.

Concerns have also been raised by China's critics about its willingness to strike deals with countries such as Sudan, whose oil is off-limits to US firms due to Western demands for transparency and respect for human rights.

"I'm very concerned that it could become a major source of confrontation," said David Zweig, director of the Center on China's Transnational Relations at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

"Remember that World War One started over expanding powers seeking resources, particularly in Africa."

For the Chinese however, their oil and other interests in Africa are seen as legitimate, and Western criticism is often viewed as hypocrisy considering the European and US history of colonialism and interference on the continent.

Others note that Western countries and oil firms have long turned a blind eye to or directly supported governments like Nigeria's, whose military forces have suppressed opposition to Western oil exploitation.

The Chinese regularly point out that their Africa strategy is not just a cynical oil grab. Africa has gained billions of dollars in Chinese investment, aid, debt relief and badly-needed infrastructure, they say.