The New Presence of China in Africa

225 Pages·2009·3.558 MB·English

by  Meine Pieter van Dijk

the new presence of china in africa

Th e New Presence of
China in Africa
Meine Pieter van Dijk (ed.)
EADI – the European Association of Development Research and Training Insti-
tutes – is the leading professional network for development and regional studies
in Europe (www.eadi.org).
This book is supported by the EDC2020 project, which is funded by the 7th
Framework Programme under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities
Theme of the European Union (www.edc2020.eu).
Cover design: Chaim Mesika, Hilversum, The Netherlands
Lay-out: v3-Services, Baarn
isbn 978 90 8964 136 6
e-isbn 978 90 4851 064 1
nur 754 / 759
© Meine Pieter van Dijk / Amsterdam University Press, 2009
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part
of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or trans-
mitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author
of the book.
Table of Contents
I Overview of the issues and China’s success
1 Introduction: objectives of and instruments for China’s new
presence in Africa 9
Meine Pieter van Dijk
2 China’s opening up, from Shenzhen to Sudan 31
Filip de Beule and Daniël Van den Bulcke
II Instruments
3 Chinese aid to Africa, origins, forms and issues 55
Jean-Raphaël Chaponnière
4 China’s investments in Africa 83
Peter Kragelund and Meine Pieter van Dijk
5. Competing trade policies with respect to Africa 101
Meine Pieter van Dijk
III Case studies
6 State-driven Chinese investments in Zambia: combining
strategic interests and profits 117
Anders Bastholm and Peter Kragelund
7 The political impact of the Chinese in Sudan 141
Meine Pieter van Dijk
8 The impact of the Chinese in other African countries and
sectors 157
Meine Pieter van Dijk
IV Conclusions
9 Responsible production in Africa: the rise of China as a
threat or opportunity? 177
Peter Knorringa
10 Conclusions from China’s activities in Africa 199
Meine Pieter van Dijk
About the authors 221
Index 223
Part I
Overview of the issues
and China ’s success

1
Introduction: objectives of and instruments for
China’ s new presence in Africa
Meine Pieter van Dijk
China is fast becoming a major player in Sub-Saharan Africa (Jacoby, 2007: 34).
In 2008 it replaced the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) as
Africa’s major trading partner. However, we are not just talking about trade; Chi-
na’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI ) and development aid are also increasing
rapidly; and aid, investments and trade mutually reinforce each other in the case
of China (Asche and Schüller, 2008).1 This combined use of aid, investments
and trade requires political coordination and China has developed a strategy and
different policies with respect to Africa, which includes migration to Africa and
buying or leasing land for agricultural purposes (Chinese Government, 2008).
There are few systematic overviews of China ’s involvement in Africa (for
example, Alden et al., eds, 2008; Asche and Schüller, 2008; Broadman, 2006;
and Manji and Marks, 2007). The picture can be drawn on the basis of different
sources such as trade statistics from the World Trade Organization (WTO ), the
World Bank (2009) and the International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org), statis-
tics on international investments (UNCTAD, 2007) and indicators of develop-
ment cooperation (OECD , 2009). These data need to be complemented by case
studies and recent case studies are now available and will be used (for example,
Kragelund, 2007; Large, 2007; Marysse and Geenen, 2009; and Tegegne, 2006).
This allows us to ask a series of questions.
This introductory chapter presents the background of China ’s involvement
in Africa. China was present in Africa already in the 1950s and the 1960s. At
that time the Chinese leaders supported movements for independence and anti-
colonial activities. In the post-colonial era Chairman Mao Zedong supported
socialist regimes in particular. The support for the destruction and now for the
reconstruction of the Beguela railroad in Angola is an example of long-term Chi-
nese support to Africa.2 The construction of the TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia
Railway Authority) railway line took place in the 1960s. It runs from the Zam-
bian copper mines to the Tanzanian capital and main port Dar-es-Salaam. It was