China Returns To Africa

The geopolitical landscape of contemporary China-Africa relations has provoked wide media interest. After being conspicuously overlooked during the G8's purported 'Year of Africa', the topic generated wider debate in the build-up to the China-Africa Summit in Beijing in 2006. Despite this, China's deepening re-engagement with the African continent has been relatively neglected in academic and development policy circles. In particular, the concrete ways in which different Chinese actors are operating in different parts of Africa, their political dynamics and implications for African development as well as Western views of this phenomenon, have yet be explored in depth."China Returns to Africa" responds to this need by addressing the key issues in contemporary China-Africa relations. Taking its cue from the widely touted 'Chinese Scramble for Africa' and the accompanying claim of a 'new Chinese imperialism', the book moves beyond narrow media-driven concerns to offer one of the first far-ranging surveys of China's return to Africa, examining what this new relationship holds for diplomacy, trade and development.

This book investigates the expanding involvement of China in security cooperation in Africa. Drawing on leading and emerging scholars in the field, the volume uses a combination of analytical insights and case studies to unpack the complexity of security challenges confronting China and the continent. It interrogates how security considerations impact upon the growing economic and social links China has developed with African states.

A New York Times Notable Book Chinese immigrants of the recent past and unfolding twenty-first century are in search of the African dream. So explains indefatigable traveler Howard W. French, prize-winning investigative journalist and former New York Times bureau chief in Africa and China, in the definitive account of this seismic geopolitical development. China’s burgeoning presence in Africa is already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. From Liberia to Senegal to Mozambique, in creaky trucks and by back roads, French introduces us to the characters who make up China’s dogged emigrant population: entrepreneurs singlehandedly reshaping African infrastructure, and less-lucky migrants barely scraping by but still convinced of Africa’s opportunities. French’s acute observations offer illuminating insight into the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making these cultural and economic incursions into the continent; what Africa’s role is in this equation; and what the ramifications for both parties and their people—and the watching world—will be in the foreseeable future. One of the Best Books of the Year at • The Economist • The Guardian • Foreign Affairs

China's global expansion is much talked about, but usually from the viewpoint of the West. This unique collection of essays provides diverse views on the challenges faced by Africa, Latin America and Asia as a result of China's rise as a global power.

In South Africa-China Relations: Between Aspiration and Reality in a New Global Order, Phiwokuhle Mnyandu analyzes South Africa-China relations in the context of South Africa’s quest to reduce unemployment and transform its economy to ensure lasting social stability. Mnyandu uses trade patterns, analyses of governmental organizations and initiatives, and other socio-economic data to determine the extent to which developmental change or stasis has taken place as relations between South Africa and China have deepened. Tracing South Africa’s changing attitudes and policies towards China’s involvement, the impact of programs involving commodities trades on unemployment, and the prospective outcomes of an endogenous developmental policy, Mnyandu concludes by proposing a quadri-linear model as a tool for more comprehensive analyses of China’s relations not only with South Africa, but other African countries as well to avoid disinformation on Africa-China issues.

Any book on Africa-China relations which steers away from hegemonic western perspectives and paradigms is welcome. This is one such book. Issa G. Shivji, Mwalimu Nyerere Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Dar es Salaam --

"Although China denies that it harbors ambitions to become a superpower, its leadership has made clear its intention that the country be a major player in the global arena. Against this backdrop, Ian Taylor explores the nature and implications of China's burgeoning role in Africa. Taylor argues that Beijing is using Africa not only as a source of needed raw materials and potential new markets, but also to bolster its own position on the international stage. After tracing the history of Sino-African relations, he addresses key current issues: What will be the long-term consequences, for example, of China's successes in securing access to the continent's oil? How will cheap Chinese imports affect Africa's manufacturing base? What has been the impact of China's arms sales to Africa?"--P. 227.

China's rise to global power status in recent decades has been accompanied by deepening economic relationships with Africa, with the New Silk Road's extension to Sub-Saharan Africa as the latest step, leading to much academic debate about the influence of Chinese business in the continent. However, China's engagement with African states at the political and diplomatic level has received less attention in the literature. This book investigates the impact of Chinese policies on African politics, asking how China deals with political instability in Africa and in turn how Africans perceive China to be helping or hindering political stability. While China officially operates with a foreign policy strategy which conceives of Africa as one integrated monolithic area (with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) the flagship of inter-continental cooperation), this book highlights the plurality of context-specific interaction patterns between China and African elites, demonstrating how China's role and relevance has differently evolved according to whether African countries are resource-rich and geostrategically important from the Chinese perspective or not. By looking comparatively at a range of different country cases, the book aims to promote a more thorough understanding of how China reacts to political stability and instability, and in which ways the country contributes to domestic political dynamics and stability within African states. China’s New Role in African Politics will be of interest to researchers from across Political Science, International Relations, International Law and Economy, Security Studies, and African and Chinese Studies.

"In Will Africa Feed China?, Deborah Brautigam, one of the world's leading experts on China and Africa, challenges the conventional wisdom that the Chinese are leading the great African land grab. Her eye-opening analysis sheds new light on the myths and realities of China's evolving global quest for food security"--

China’s expansion and growing influence in Africa is arguably the most remarkable global political and economic development in the 21st century. China’s foray into Africa started in the late 1990s, propelled by its desire to obtain new sources of raw materials and energy for its economic growth, as well as new markets for its manufactured goods. While China’s "no political strings attached" policy proves attractive to many of African leaders, China has been criticized as neo-colonialist, interested solely in stripping Africa of its mineral wealth without proper environmental or social precautions. This book addresses the controversy by exploring the motivations and practices of China’s African engagement, providing a comprehensive account of the intensified interactions between China and African states. The first part examines the debate surrounding whether China has pursued a neo-colonialist path in Africa, by looking at the perception of China by the locals and the challenges that the intensified relationship has posed for African states. The second part analyses China’s strategic motivations to see if Beijing has acquired sustaining power and influence in Africa in competition with the West. The third part focuses on economic and business practices of Chinese companies in Africa, as well as China-Africa trade patterns. The articles in this book were originally published in special issues of the Journal of Contemporary China.