The African Union Commission (AU) has rubbished reports that China has been spying on the continental body, through its servers, to gain information on AU activities. French newspaper Le Monde this week reported that Chinese officials inserted a backdoor system into computers at the AU headquarters, which allows it to transfer data secretly to China. This was reportedly detected when technicians noticed peak data usage from midnight onward and following investigations found that data was being copied on servers in China. The report emerged during the summit but no AU leader pronounced themselves on it. However, AU spokesperson, Ebba Kalondo told NBC News that the reports were baseless and that “the relationship between Africa and China is excellent”. China completed the new 20-story AU headquarters in 2012 at a cost of US$200 million. The building is known as “China’s gift to Africa”.