Hu's African safari

President Hu Jintao met Morocco's King Mohammed Monday on the first leg of a five-day African hunt for new oil supplies and export markets. Hu will also visit Kenya and Nigeria, where China National Offshore Oil Corp completed a deal Thursday to buy a 45% stake in a Nigerian oil block for more than US$2 billion. Morocco is the only North African country without oil but is an increasingly important trade and manufacturing base on Europe's doorstep. Trade between China and Morocco has grown rapidly, reaching US$1.48 billion last year, according to Foreign Ministry statistics.