"For the first time in our history, the Congolese people can at last see that their cobalt, nickel and copper is being used to good effect," Kabila said in his first such address since taking office last year.

Kabila, 36, said similar accords with other partners would see the successful completion of his five-year plan to overhaul the country's creaking infrastructure, including roads, airports, schools, hospitals and ports.

China signed a deal in September to loan the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo five billion dollars (3.6 billion euros) to build up its infrastructure and develop its mining industry.

Three billion dollars went towards the building of thousands of miles of railways and roads as well as hospitals, universities and housing, while the rest went into mining and creating joint Chinese-Congolese firms.

Also in September, Chinese Exim Bank agreed to provide some 8.5 billion dollars in financing to build up infrastructure and develop the DR Congo's mining industry.

The following month Kinshasa signed loan accords -- whose value was not given -- with the China Development Bank.

China is keen to get its hands on raw materials from around the world to feed its fast-growing economy, and in recent years has been on a diplomatic offensive to secure what it needs. A major focus has been on Africa.

Top Chinese officials including President Hu Jintao have toured the continent, and in November last year Beijing invited scores of African leaders to a summit where it pledged to double aid and offer billions of dollars in loans.

With its huge but largely untapped natural resources, Congo is a key prize.

It has 34 percent of the world's known cobalt reserves, 10 percent of its copper, vast forests full of timber and a treasure trove of gold and diamonds.

But after years of inter-ethnic wars drawing in its neighbours and leaving millions dead, Congolese infrastructure is practically nonexistent. Its 65 million people are desperately poor even by African standards.

China's interest in Africa has attracted criticism, however, for ignoring African countries' sometimes dubious human rights records -- in oil-rich Sudan, for example -- and for low environmental standards.

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