Anyone visiting the 2010 Shanghai World Expo witnessed a rather different image of Sudan from that commonly portrayed in international headlines. This was a vision of Sudan enjoying peace, prosperity and flourishing development. Proudly on display were the provisions of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government of Sudan in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The 22-year-long civil war between the two sides left over two million Sudanese dead and uprooted millions more. Despite the achievements of this historic agreement, the message in Shanghai seemed far away from the situation in Sudan at the time. Not only was the country still mired in conflict in its western region of Darfur, but southern Sudanese were looking ahead to voting in a referendum on seceding from a united Sudan. Such inconsistencies were not uncommon regarding Sudan. Although it may not have been apparent to the mainly Chinese visitors to the Shanghai version of Sudan, there are also strikingly different views on China's role there, depending on whether one is standing in the United States, China or Sudan.

In the United States, China's relations with Sudan only began to receive mainstream attention in the past decade, becoming a media story after war in Darfur became a global issue in 2004. Darfur gave meaning to China's role in Sudan. American activists tightly linked China to the civil war and accusations spread that Beijing was bankrolling a genocide undertaken by Sudan's government through billions of dollars in oil investments.