China has called on Algeria's government to take action after clashes between Chinese and Algerian traders, urging authorities to punish those responsible, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
   
The ministry reacted in a statement after dozens of Chinese traders clashed  with local shopkeepers in Algiers on Monday, reportedly after a heated exchange between an Algerian storekeeper and a Chinese businessman.
   
"The Chinese embassy in Algeria has made representations to the local  government and police and has called on Algeria to calm down the situation,  punish those responsible according to law and prevent the incident happening  again," it said.
   
"China attaches great importance to the personal safety and legal rights of Chinese in Algeria. After the incident, the foreign ministry has made representations to the Algerian embassy."
   
It quoted Beijing's ambassador to Algeria as urging Chinese in the North African country to pay attention to their own safety, while also reminding them to "respect local laws and customs."
   
Increased Chinese presence

Algerian jobseekers have blamed their country’s widening unemployment scale on the increasing number of Chinese emigrants living in Algeria and working for meager pay. There are currently 50,000 Chinese emigrants living and working in Algeria, according to official Algerian estimates.

Many Chinese firms employ large numbers of local workers but wages remain low. However, there is evidence that workers are learning new skills because of the availability of Chinese-funded work. Taking advantage of low labour costs, the Chinese are also building factories across Africa.

Chinese companies have offered trading and investment opportunities across Africa as they understand that there is copper to mine in Zambia, iron ore to extract in Gabon and oil to refine in Angola to keep their booming, energy-hungry economy thriving. The Chinese government insists that it is not interested in dominating Africa. Instead, it seeks a harmonious world, an evolution of its Cold War search for peaceful co-existence, and it wants to coax African countries along the path towards development.

Oil and gas reserves were discovered in Algeria in the 1950s, but most Algerians live along the northern coast. The country supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe and energy exports are the backbone of what is today Africa’s third largest economy.

Sources: Reuters, Afrik.com