"As both the EU and China are important trading partners and donors for Africa, this proposal suggests Africa, the EU and China should join forces in areas of shared interests rather than to focus on differences," the Commission said.

"This can also build up knowledge and mutual understanding of the EU and China's engagement in Africa," it said in a statement.

The proposal includes working more closely in building infrastructure, supporting African Union peace and security efforts, promoting sustainable environmental management and fostering agricultural production, it said.

In January EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel spoke of forming a "partnership" between Europe and China on Africa but Brussels appears since then to have scaled down its ambitions and now talks merely about "dialogue" and "progressive" cooperation.

Brussels also made no clear reference to criticisms often levelled by the West at China's engagement in Africa for investing billions of dollars to secure raw materials to feed its rapidly growing economy without tying it to good governance or human rights.

"It is a balanced text that takes into account European interests and principles. We want to create a link where we can," a European source told AFP. "We want to avoid forcing Africa to choose between two ideologies."

A few months ago China indicated it was prepared to discuss cooperation in Africa with Brussels but for Beijing this no longer appears to be a high priority.

Africa is expected to figure highly at an EU-China summit on December 1 in Lyon, France, the source said.

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