After being snubbed by the Obama administration and excluded from the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe traveled to China in search of much needed financial support to help restore the Zimbabwe’s crumbling infrastructure.

As heads of state from across Africa convene in Washington, D.C. this week for the 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Robert Rotberg discusses the uphill battle the United States has to gain influence on a continent where China has a dominant foothold.

No sooner had the dust settled from the World Cup than Brazil played host to the five leaders of the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. An immediate outcome of the Fortaleza summit was the formation of the New Development Bank, a development finance institution to rival the World Bank. The group also announced a currency reserve pool as an alternative to the IMF. Done right, both initiatives could change the institutional landscape for multilateral development financing.

Given the reality of the Sudanese civil war, and China’s multi-billion dollar investments in Sudanese oil infrastructure, Robert I. Rotberg makes the case that it is not surprising to see China send support to South Sudan.

Wang Hongyi asserts that there is an urgent need for China and the United States to coordinate on African affairs, and the trilateral cooperation has become a core issue of rapidly accelerating interactions with Africa.

The two high-profile visits of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Africa clearly depict an upgrade in China’s ties with the continent. As He Wenping explains, China’s foreign policy will focus more on “contribution” and “responsibility” while working to enhance global cooperation.

Examining the development of China’s non-interference policy since the mid-1990s, David Shinn explains that increased trade with African countries and more Chinese nationals living on the continent has allowed China’s interpretation of sovereignty and policy of intervention in conflict situations to evolve.

Chen Jimin reflects on Li Keqiang’s visit of four African nations and explores the significance of Africa’s renaissance and China’s rise, which will continue to provide growth and development if Sino-African relations are upgraded and strategic opportunities are seized.