China. China is the world's second largest economy

and despite hitting some speed bumps this year, it's still on track to knock the US

off the top spot in the next decade.

And as China gets richer and richer, it's buying up more and more of the world's natural

resources. China is the world's second largest consumer

of oil and with Chinese demand for energy expected to triple by 2030, it's particularly

hungry for oil and gas. And so its been targeting countries with lots

of these. It's also been targeting places that western

countries won't always go and has now passed the US to become Africa's biggest trading

partner. Right now China is pouring billions of dollars

into Africa in aid, loans, investment and contracts - much of which is being spent on

infrastructure programs. And in return securing itself access to vast quantities of the continent's

raw materials, as well as infrastructure contracts for Chinese firms.

China now gets almost one-third of its imported oil from Africa and runs oil and mining firms

across the continent. It is also constructing everything from roads and bridges to stadiums

and government buildings. Including the African Union's $200m headquarters which were built

and financed entirely by China as a "gift".

In Angola Chinese firms have even gone so far as to build entire cities. Including Kilamba,

a state-of-the art city designed to house 500,000 people which was built from scratch

in three years for a reported $3.5 billion.

And many of China's citizens are following the money. It is estimated that a million

Chinese people now live in Africa, up from just a few thousand in 2003.

In March 2013, the Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at a Chinese-built conference centre

in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam where he signed an agreement to build a major

port and industrial zone in the country, expected to cost up to $10bn.

During his speech Mr Xi stressed that his country's "assistance" to Africa doesn't come

with political strings attached. A clear dig at the US where the terms "aid" and "foreign

investment" are often accompanied by the words "democracy" and "human rights".

In fact, when the US President Barack Obama visited Africa in June 2013, his signature

speech talked about improving the continent's access to electricity, while also "supporting

democracy".

"Access to electricity is fundamental to opportunity in this age."

But while Chinese money might not come with the same conditions as American money, that

doesn't mean its not political. Critics accuse China of buying up Africa's

raw materials at below-market rates, while employing Chinese labourers for infrastructure

programs over African workers. According to data from the Heritage Foundation,

a US-based conservative thinktank, Nigeria receives more investment from China than any

other African country. And over the past eight years it has been the seventh top destination

in the world for Chinese investment. But writing in the Financial Times, Lamido

Sanusi, the governor of Nigeria's Central Bank, said:

"So China takes our primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence

of colonialism. The British went to Africa and India to secure raw materials and markets.

Africa is now willingly opening itself up to a new form of imperialism."

China is no longer a fellow under-developed economy -- it is the world's second-biggest,

capable of the same forms of exploitation as the west. It is a significant contributor

to Africa's industrialisation and underdevelopment."

Over in South America it's a similar story. South America is of course home to Brazil,

which according to the Heritage Foundation, is the fourth biggest recipient of Chinese

investment in the world. And along with Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina,

Brazil is receiving billions of dollars in loans from China, which must be repaid with

guaranteed long-term sales of oil and other natural resources. But obtaining these natural

resources is leading to environmental destruction on a massive scale.

Venezuela and Ecuador are particularly at the mercy of China because they are unable

to access money on the international markets and so Ecuador, which owes China as much as

$17 billion has been selling off huge swathes of untouched Amazonian rainforest to Chinese

oil companies.

Alberto Acosta is Ecuador's former energy minister. Here's his take on China's dealings

in the region:

"China is shopping worldwide for natural resources. We're in the midst of a process of commodity

accumulation by them."

China is also leveling a mountain in Peru in order to mine for copper, silver and molybdenum

and one Chinese billionaire tycoon named Wang Jing is even planning to build an alternative

"Panama Canal" through Nicaragua, at a cost of $40 billion.

But it's not just the developing world that China's targeting.

According to data again from the Heritage Foundation, over the past eight years the

top three destinations for Chinese investment have been Australia, Canada, and its biggest

economic rival, the US. Amazingly, China owns so much of the US government's

debts - nearly $1.3 trillion in fact - that one commentator writing in Forbes even suggested

that the Republicans should have asked China's permission before forcing the recent government

shutdown. And during the shutdown the Chinese government even held a news conference urging

the US to resolve the shutdown in a "timely way" to ensure the safety of Chinese investments.

And for those of you sitting in Britain watching this - don't think you're unaffected by the

Chinese takeover. Not only is Britain the number one destination for Chinese investment

in Europe but it's also the eighth destination in the world.