China courts oil-rich Nigeria

Chinese President Hu Jintao has began a visit to oil-rich Nigeria, where his nation is striking deals to secure the supplies of petroleum and other resources needed to fuel the world’s fastest-growing economy.

To a 21-gun salute, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo welcomed Hu at the airport yesterday in the capital, Abuja, where the Chinese leader’s plane landed in a first sub-Saharan Africa stop in a tour that has included the US, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.