Yes, the Chinese greatly desire African resources, but ultimately what they want is Africa itself.  But instead of conquering Africa using military force, China is using economics instead.  Today, more than 10,000 Chinese-owned firms are operating in Africa, and virtually every major road, bridge, railway and skyscraper is being built by the Chinese.  As a result, most African nations are very deeply indebted to China at this point.  And as you will see below, when those debts go bad that gives the Chinese a tremendous amount of leverage.