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CHINA’S DIPLOMACY
AND ECONOMIC
ACTIVITIES
IN AFRICA
Relations on the Move
Anja Lahtinen
China’s Diplomacy and Economic
Activities in Africa
Anja Lahtinen
China’s Diplomacy
and Economic
Activities in Africa
Relations on the Move
Anja Lahtinen
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland
Cover illustration: Pattern adapted from an Indian cotton print produced in the 19th century
When I took my first trip to China in the mid-1980s, it was like arriving
on another planet. After a long and tiresome flight, I stepped into the
transit hall. Young officers in green uniform stood in front of the round
table in the middle of the room. Loud Chinese music was playing. It took
a long time to get my suitcases. The bicycles on the road from the airport
were reluctant to give way to our bus. Beijing was grey, damp and monot-
onous, with a lot of concrete administration buildings. The air was pol-
luted, smelling of charcoal. Mountains of Chinese cabbage were piled on
the kerbsides. The principal vehicle in use was the bicycle, and there
seemed to be millions of cyclists. All Chinese people appeared to be young.
They laughed at us in a kindly way while showing curiosity. China was
opening up, and it had invited us, a group of Finnish small and medium-
sized enterprises, to learn about its economic and social plan to modernize
the country, and to invest in the country. Since my first visit, China has
experienced a remarkable transformation. In the space of 30 years it has
become an economic world power. In turn, I have become more familiar
with Chinese culture and people, politics, and society. My journey to
Africa, ten years later, followed a similar pattern, starting with an initial
visit to South Africa. The country was filled with hope as Mandela Nelson
had become president just a few months earlier.
China’s entrance into Africa began to pop up in international news
from mid-2000, at the same time as research on the latter country began
to evolve. At that point, although I was working on my dissertation,
“Governance Matters: China’s Developing with a Focus on Qinghai
Province,” this topic attracted my interest greatly. The idea of combining
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1 China–Africa Relations 1
2 China in Africa 17
3 Soft Power 33
4 Culture 53
6 Conclusion 83
Bibliography 89
Index 101
ix
About the Author
xi
Introduction
Africa was long portrayed as “The Hopeless Continent,” as, for example,
on the front page of The Economist in an issue in 2000. For years, global-
ization had bypassed the continent because of its poor infrastructure, low
income, and political instability. Then came China, which needed resources
and oil for its expanding manufacturing capacity and to secure its growth
as a global manufacturing powerhouse. Chinese leaders headed business
delegations to every major African capital, landing infrastructure projects
and trade deals. The country’s state-owned enterprises, private corpora-
tions, and entrepreneurs all ventured to Africa.
In the decade since 2007, it seemed as China was building everything in
Africa. It constructed roads, schools, hotels, and conference centers. It
built a huge shopping mall in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, in Mozambique
it constructed a ring road around Maputo, and it invested billions in
Nigeria’s newly refurbished Lagos–Kano rail line. African leaders welcomed
China. Their country needed to improve its infrastructure deficit to accel-
erate growth. African governments were attracted by China’s pragmatic
approach and its “no strings attached” conditions to do business. This was
in stark contrast to the conditions imposed by Western countries, the
International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, which demanded good
governance. China’s engagement helped African countries to accelerate
economic growth while Africa turned into China’s “second continent.”
McKinsey’s (2010) report predicted a growth trajectory for Africa’s econo-
mies, and by 2011 (within ten years of the aforementioned article), “Africa
is rising” was how the continent was depicted on the front page of The
Economist.
xiii
xiv Introduction
China and its rapidly growing presence in Africa soon raised concerns.
Its role and impact on the continent have continuously been questioned
and often criticized in the international arena as a result of the country’s
resources for infrastructure model and controversial trade practices. Since
the global financial crisis in 2008, China’s economic growth rate has
cooled off. And, when China devalued its currency, the renminbi, by 2%
in August 2015, this sent shockwaves through global markets. Now, China
seeks to rebalance its economy by shifting its activity from investment and
manufacturing toward consumption and services. The slowdown of the
world’s largest economy has affected markets across the world. It also hit
Africa hard. African states have already seen a faster than expected reduc-
tion in imports and exports. China’s economic growth has declined.
Because Africa has exposed its economic dependence on China, its gov-
ernments are challenged to find a path to more diversified economy pat-
terns. The key is to achieve sustainable development, with a focus on
inclusive growth and human development. In the meantime, the current
international environment is changing rapidly through globalization,
environmental change, migration, digitalization, and populism. The
effects of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and Donald
Trump’s victory in presidential elections in the USA are far-reaching. The
relationships between global political forces and environmental concerns
change the economic and political landscape. These trajectories force
African governments to re-evaluate their economic and societal goals and
to decide how to unlock the potential of their countries for growth and
development to benefit their people. New economic and political activities
are on the horizon that will reshape and deepen the China–Africa coopera-
tion, but on what terms? It is high time that Africa decides.
This book is about China in Africa, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
It offers a comprehensive approach to China–Africa relations and is a
review of those relations on the move. It reveals the history of the relation-
ship to gain a better understanding of the present and to try to foresee the
future. The aim is to provide a deeper understanding of China in Africa,
China’s role and impact there, and how the relations have developed. It
examines how China’s soft power, comprising economic ties, aid, diplo-
macy, and culture, has served the goals of its government, and how
Africans have perceived its approach. Obviously, it has helped China’s
entrance into Africa, but whether it has won the “minds and hearts” is a
more nuanced issue. The book exposes the new reality for Africa that fol-
Introduction
xv
References
Habermas, J. (1978/1968). Knowledge and Human Interest. London:
Heinemann.
Hammersley, M. (1990). Reading Ethnographic Research. New York:
Longman.
xviii Introduction
China–Africa Relations
Abstract In ancient times, China regarded Africa as being the end of the
Western Zone, as from China to the rest of the world. After the founding
of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the new ideology shaped its rela-
tions with the continent. China supported the liberation movements of
Africa as a part of the united international front against the superpowers and
the former Soviet Union. It established diplomatic relations with African
countries, seeking their political support. In the 1990s, this relationship
entered a new phase, which involved economic activities. China-Africa trade
increased rapidly. And in 2012, China surpassed the United and Europe, it
had become Africa’s largest trading partner. It received much international
attention in media, Policymakers and scholars were concerned. What are
China’s goals in Africa? Is China good or bad for Africa’s development?
China’s multifaceted relations with Africa are not new. In ancient times,
China regarded Africa as being the end of the Western Zone. From the
beginning of the Han Dynasty (207–220 CE), the Silk Road with its web
of roads connected the East and the West. It was a corridor to trade and
cultural exchange, vital to create interactions between the people of differ-
ent civilizations, reaching the height of its importance during the Tang
Dynasty (618–907 CE). The robe of Cleopatra VII (69 BCE–30 CE), the
China closed its door and it lost its status as a great sea power, but it con-
tinued to trade without official approval. Then Portuguese stepped into
Africa, travelling down the coast of West Africa and to Sierra Leone in
1460. Portugal dominated world trade for nearly 200 years (Tucker 2003,
pp. 365–367).
Contemporary Relations
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on October 1,
1949. The foreign policy of New China as “Leaning to One Side” was
implemented by the formation of an alliance with the Soviet Union (Zhang
2013, p. 14). Newly established China connected with African countries
advocated shared historical experiences, both victims of “colonization by
the capitalists and imperialists.” This paved the way to seeking the political
support of African nations. Ideology was the central issue in Chinese for-
eign policy until the end of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s. Mao
Zedong frequently received friends and organizations from Africa, pro-
claiming China’s “sincere sympathy and entire support for African peo-
ple’s fight against imperialism and colonialism.” China supported the
liberation movements of African countries as a part of the united interna-
tional front against the superpowers: the USA, and the former Soviet
Union. China saw similarities with Africa, seeing itself as standing “side by
side” with African countries under the banner of “South-South
solidarity.”
In 1955, with representatives from 29 newly independent nations, the
Afro-Asia Conference was held in Bandung, Indonesia. There, the Chinese
premier, Zhou Enlai, actively engaged with the leaders of African coun-
tries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, and Sudan) to discuss colo-
nialism, economic and cultural cooperation, and their role in a world that
was dominated by the superpowers. A year later, China established the first
diplomatic ties in the continent, with Egypt, which was also the first
African recipient of Chinese aid. Zhou Enlai made his first African tour in
1963–1964 in the context of the Cold War. He visited ten African coun-
tries to gain continent’s support in competition with the “imperialists”
(the USA) and the “revisionists” (the former Soviet Union).
Throughout the 1960s, China was “striking with both fists” toward
both the USA and the former Soviet Union. While its relations with the
latter deteriorated, China was lobbying to win the seat in the United
Nations (UN), and in 1966 Chinese scientists and scholars were able to
4 A. LAHTINEN
visit the USA. (Spence 1999, p. 596). By the early 1960s, China had
established diplomatic relations with ten African countries, and by the end
of 1970 with 44 of the 50 independent African states. It sent thousands of
engineers, technicians, and doctors to Africa to build stadiums, hospitals,
railroads, and other infrastructure. The TAZARA Railway cemented
China–Africa relations for decades to come. This 1860 km-long railway in
East Africa links the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the town of
Kapiri Moshi in Zambia’s central province. It was built between 1970 and
1975 as a turnkey project, financed and supported by China. Tanzania,
Zambia, and China built the railway in the spirit of pan-African socialism
as the “Great Uhuru Railway (Uhuru is the Swahili word for freedom).
The purpose was to eliminate the economic dependence of landlocked
Zambia on Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, both ruled by
white-minority governments at that time. Even today, TAZARA remains
an enduring symbol of Chinese support for African independence and
development, as repeated in China’s official rhetoric and historical
narrative.
over the seat of the ROC. Since then, Taiwan has witnessed a sharp decline
in the number of African countries that recognize it. After Malawi switched
its allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in 2007, only four countries—Swazi-
land, Burkina Faso, Gambia, and São Tomé and Príncipe—recognize
Taiwan. Ten years later, Burkina Faso and Swasiland, are last two African
allies. They say that they have no plans to break ties with Taiwan. However,
it is hard to predict how long these two countries can resist China's eco-
nomic sphere of influence.
Deng Xiaoping initiated reforms in 1978 with a focus on domestic eco-
nomic development, shifting from a command economy to a market econ-
omy. His pragmatic “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” opened
China up to foreign investment and the global market, developing China
into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Fundamentally,
his dilemma was the relationship between economic progress and political
freedom to secure power for the CPC. This same challenge for China
remains following the Tiananmen Square tragedy in 1989. It ended
China’s honeymoon relationship with Western countries for a couple of
years, with China being censured and isolated by the West. Thus it turned
to Africa to strengthen its old relations and initiate new projects. In the
1990s the China–Africa relationship finally shifted from ideology- to
economy-driven affairs. China–Africa trade increased rapidly, from $10.5
billion in 2000 to $40 billion in 2005 and $166 billion in 2011. In 2012,
China surpassed the USA and Europe to become Africa’s largest trading
partner (Africa Renewal 2013).
China’s entrance into Africa has received much attention from scholars,
policymakers, and the media. Its rapid engagement with economic activi-
ties in Africa has roused concerns. What are China’s goals in Africa and,
moreover, what is its impact on Africa’s development—is it good or bad?
The fairly extensive literature on the subject has described, examined and
commented on China’s multidimensional and multilayered interests in
Africa. In general there is agreement that the African economies have prof-
ited from China–Africa cooperation, but increasingly it is being ques-
tioned whether this relationship is as good for Africa as it has been for
China. Notable scholars have been critical. Chris Alden, in his China in
Africa (2005), pointed out how quickly China moved into Africa. He was
concerned about China’s unconditional trade, and the enthusiastic
response that African governments had to it. In his article “The Paradox
of China’s Policy in Africa” (2010), Seifudein Adem claimed that Africa’s
engagement with China would block its efforts to overcome dependency
6 A. LAHTINEN
ments are too close. The title of Muzi Kuzwayo’s (2012) book, Black
Man’s Medicine, comes from the African adage Setlhare sa Mosotho ke lek-
gowa (Black Man’s Medicine is the White Man). He emphasizes the ben-
efits of self-economic empowerment of Africans. Muzi is not alone in
arguing that blaming colonialism for Africa’s failings belongs to the past. In
his view, apartheid is an unfortunate history that must never be forgotten,
but now it is time to move on. Elley Twineyo-Kamugisha agrees. In her
Why Africa Fails (2012), she claims that Africa’s malaise is in large part the
result of its mistakes: greed, poor policies, and a lack of leadership.
China
China is a vast country with an enormous variety of land cover and diverse
climates. It has a population of more than 1.3 billion people, unevenly
distributed across its provinces. The country has the world’s longest con-
tinuously recorded history. The earliest Chinese writing, founded on so-
called oracle bones more than 4000 years ago, provides information about
the development of Chinese script. The oldest works of literature are from
the late Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), which was the longest lasting of
the Chinese dynasties. The most influential minds in the Chinese intel-
lectual tradition flourished under the Zhou Dynasty, particularly during
the Easter Zhou period (770–256 BCE). Many of the ideas developed by
Laozi, Confucius, Mencius, and Mozi inform Chinese civilization today.
Governance
China is a one-party state, with great power lying with the CPC. The party
refers to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong’s Thought, Deng Xiaoping’s
Theory, Jiang Zemin’s Three Represents, Hu Jintao’s Harmonious
Society, and Xi Jinping’s Thought, which after the weeklong Communist
Party congress in October 2017 was incorporated into the Communis
Party’s constitution. Restoring China to greatness is a central message.
The authoritarian regime that tolerates a significant range of economic
freedoms is practiced within the governing system that includes
the Communist Party of China (CPC), The National People’s Congress
(NPC) and the Central People’s Government (also known as the State
Council). The CPC is the party in power.
The CPC has both central and local organizations. At the top is the
Central Committee. When it is not in session, the Political Bureau and its
8 A. LAHTINEN
Economic Reforms
Deng Xiaoping inherited from Mao Zedong a stagnant economy and a
wounded state.1 China was still underdeveloped. Its gross domestic prod-
uct (GDP) per capita level was like that of Zambia, being less than half of
the Asian average and less than two-thirds of the African average. The
country’s industrial production and trade was controlled following cen-
trally planned output targets. Collectivized agriculture was the norm.
Following the reforms in 1978 and under Deng’s leadership, China shifted
from a centrally planned to a market-based economy. Major components
of the reform included agriculture with price and ownership incentives for
farmers. Trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) were at the core of
economic reform as part of the open-door policy. This encouraged the
opening up of China to foreign imports and the promotion of exports. In
the 1980s, foreign investors were invited to set up factories in special eco-
nomic zones along the coast, in the Shenzhen and Shanghai areas, inde-
pendently of or jointly with Chinese enterprises, to process imported or
locally produced materials for export. No import duties were levied on
materials prepared for export. A primary purpose of this was to absorb
Chinese labor while using the capital and technical knowledge of the for-
eign investors. Deng was instrumental in the development of the coastal
area, asserting that “some areas must get rich before others” and that the
wealth from coastal regions would eventually be transferred to aid eco-
nomic construction inland. Deng’s catchphrase “To get rich is glorious”
during his famous southern tour of China in 1992 encouraged entrepre-
neurship to drive China’s economy. In 1999, China launched the “Go
Out” or “Going Global Strategy” to encourage Chinese enterprises to
invest overseas. Then its entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001
integrated China into the global economy. Consequently, China has
grown, and this unforeseen growth was remarkable. China needed oil and
resources from Africa to keep its industries and construction companies
going, as well as new markets for its products. China had become the
manufacturing center of the world.
Indeed, China has benefited from these market reforms. In only a few
decades it has become the second-largest economy in the world, and a
manufacturing hub specialized in labor-intensive and export-led produc-
tion. China’s remarkable annual two-digit GDP lifted more than 800 hun-
dred million people out of poverty (World Bank, China 2017). Its Human
Development Index has risen steadily, and life expectancy, primary school
10 A. LAHTINEN
Economic Growth
China has emerged as a major global economic power. It is now the
world’s second-largest economy.
Before the reforms in 1979, the average annual real GDP growth rate
in China was estimated at 5.3% (from 1960–1978) according to the
Congressional Research Service. China’s annual growth in 1990 was
3.9%. According to the World Bank, in 2000 annual growth was 8.5%,
and in 2007 it peaked at 14.2%. Since then, with the effects of the global
recession, there have been some steep inclines and drops in China’s GDP
growth rate. In August in 2008, when China hosted the Summer
Olympics, the skies were cleared of pollution, and the talks of political
reform haven’t disappeared. The country’s economy was in robust
growth. In September of that year, the fourth-largest US investment
bank, Lehman Brothers, collapsed. The global economy went into reces-
sion and the world economic crisis affected China’s economy. China’s
exports, imports, and FDI inflows declined, GDP growth slowed, and
millions of Chinese workers reportedly lost their jobs. The Chinese gov-
ernment responded by implementing a $586 billion economic stimulus
package and loosening monetary policies to increase bank lending. In
2008 the country’s annual GDP growth rate dropped by 4.6%, to 9.6%
compared with the previous year. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, China
reached its longstanding growth target of 8%. However, in 2012, its GDP
growth was 7.9%, so the government adopted a “new normal” with a
7.5% growth target. In 2015, China’s GDP reached its lowest figure for
25 years as growth was just 6.9%. This was a shock to the world’s markets.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF 2016a, b) forecast predicted the
country’s growth to slow to 6.3% in 2016 and 6.0% in 2017. However,
according to official data, China’s economy expanded to 6.7% in 2016,
although helped by a hefty dose of government stimulus. This was a slow-
down from the 6.9% in 2015, but stronger than predicted. Economists
say that such growth can’t continue indefinitely. They expect it to slow
further to 6.5% in 2017.
CHINA–AFRICA RELATIONS 11
Africa
Africa is the world’s second-largest continent with 54 separate countries
and a rapidly growing population of roughly a billion. The regions are
North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa.
Africa is a land of diversity with abundant natural resources; extraordinary
wildlife, landscapes and fascinating cultures; and the complexity of ethnic
divisions. It is a continent of contrasts, not only from the geographical,
historical, and cultural points of view but also sociopolitically and eco-
nomically. It is a site of spatial and cultural change, Janus-like, emulating
an African mask with opposite faces, looking both to the past and to the
future.
Africa stands at the very beginning of the origin of humanity, as proven
by many findings around the Great Rift Valley area. Its ancestor traditions
go back to the earliest times. African history comprises tradition and two
major invasions. Overlays of European Christian tradition and Arab-
Islamic traditions have given Africa a complex array of ideas. Christian and
Islamic influences changed the structure of African behavior and created
new institutions, competing with or replacing ancient traditions. Africa’s
weak internal integration and underdevelopment have been linked to its
history, characterized by the slave trade and colonial rule. From the late
fifteenth century, Europeans and Arabs took slaves from West, Central,
and Southeast Africa. Beginning in the seventeenth century, the Dutch
began exploring and colonizing the continent. Britain as the master of the
seas became the largest slave-running country in the world. Between 1492
and 1885, Europe’s continental power was unchallenged. Millions of
Africans were sent across the ocean to the Americas and the Caribbean,
making Europeans who held plantations and businesses in those places
rich and powerful (Asante 2007, p. 216).
CHINA–AFRICA RELATIONS 13
Notes
1. China was bruised and economically weak after the Cultural Revolution
(1966–76).
Bibliography
Adem, S. (2010). The Paradox of China’s Policy in Africa. African and Asian
Studies, 9, 334–355. Leiden: Brill.
Africa Renewal. (2013, January). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/africare-
newal/magazine/january-2013/china-heart-africa
Alden, C. (2005). China in Africa. Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 47(3),
147–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396330500248086.
Asante, M. (2007). The History of Africa. The Quest for Eternal Harmony. London:
Routledge.
Brautigam, D. (2009). Dragon’s Gift, The Real Story of China in Africa. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Cardenal, J. P., & Heriberto, A. (2014). China’s Silent Army: The Pioneers,
Traders, Fixers and Workers Who Are Remaking the World in Beijing’s Image.
London: Penguin.
Carmody, P. (2011). The New Scramble for Africa. Cambridge: Polity Press.
CNN. (2017). Chinese Province Admits Falsifying Economic Data for Years.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/18/news/economy/china-province-falsi-
fied-economic-data/index.html
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