While diplomats like to cite the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He's voyages to Africa's east coast as being the first formal contact between China and Africa, modern ties were established in 1956 when Egypt became the first African country to recognise the PRC.
During the cold war, two-way engagement was limited as China was marginalised in Africa by competition between the US and Soviet Union. The one project of note was the late 1960s construction of the 1,860km-long Zambia-Tanzania railway, when 16,000 Chinese workers were sent to build the link.
Figures from the China International Poverty Reduction Centre indicate that, since 1956, China has helped with more than 800 African development programmes. It's also sent medical teams to 43 African countries and is training 10,000 Africans in vocational skills. By 2005, China had given 18,000 African students scholarships to mainland universities and had sent 1,000 peacekeepers to Africa as part of UN forces.