This is ground zero of China’s economical boom, tens of thousands of factories churning out just about anything the rest of the world wants to buy, and financing China’s extraordinary turnaround, in just 30 years going from Communist/ backwater to by some accounts, the world’s second biggest economy.

China has 1.5 trillion dollars worth of foreign exchange reserves built up from its exports, and now it’s spending some of that money to buy up big overseas, it’s got a 200 billion-dollar/ war chest taken from those reserves to start with, and an insatiable demand for energy, resources, financial services, tech firms, IT providers, anything that will help them secure the raw materials and the expertise their economy needs. The spin's so far this year modest by international standards, 5 billion/ dollars for a near 10% stake of Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley, and initial billion for a small stake in / fellow Wall Street of bear stearns with an option to spend billions more. 3 billion for 10% of private equity group Black Stone plus energy deals in Africa, the Middle East, and Australia.

But it’s just the start, Standard Chartered Research Head Nicholas Kwan estimates China is laying out about 20 billion dollars this year with much more to come.

What you've seen the last year or so, is just the beginning of a new trend that China’s going out more and more actively, to acquire the kind of resources they need for their own development.

Next year, he says that figure could be several times higher. Rumors persist that it could buy the giant mining house Rio Tinto. That deal alone / could be close to 150 billion. So where are the targets? Anywhere in the world, say analysts, but Africa still looms large at energy and resources.

I thing it's persistent where they are, we can expect China to continue its long-term interest/ in Africa.

Africa has pretty much welcomed China with open arms, but the reception may not be as warm elsewhere. With / election year coming up in the US, how will politically-charged Washington view a major takeover funded with Chinese government money.

Politics always makes business sometimes tougher, so I would expect more resistance/, more time of quarrels, and rubbles, here and there.

but China is in this for the long haul, it needs to buy big overseas to protect and boost its own economic growth, as some in the investment community are now saying it’s just the start of China’s great leap outwards. Andrew Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.