Chinese companies face challenging times in West African nation of Gabon

Taking Libreville's main coastal road with palm trees swaying in the Atlantic breeze, one could easily imagine it being an upmarket French resort. Gabon, of which it is the capital, has one of the highest standards of living in sub-Saharan Africa. Its gross national income per capita of $14,090 - putting it firmly in the middle-income bracket - is more than 50 percent higher than that of China's $9,040, according to 2012 World Bank figures.

Neither the wealthy ambience of the capital nor the statistics give the full picture, however. Only a minority of the country's 1.5 million citizens enjoy the country's wealth with almost one-third living below the poverty line and 20 percent enduring long-term unemployment.