Sino-African Relations: Historical Development and Long-term Challenges

Declared the Year of Africa, 2006 marked a half century of China-African diplomatic relations and was a year of unprecedented Chinese focus on the continent, with significant promises and undertakings made in both the political and economic arenas. On 12 January 2006, Beijing unveiled its first white paper on its relations with Africa, China’s African Policy, elaborating a detailed plan for long-term ties with Africa covering economic, political, educational, scientific, cultural, environmental, health and social cooperation, as well as peacekeeping and security.¹ China’s new strategic partnership with Africa was unveiled at the November 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). In response to China’s ambitious vision, 48 African countries invited to the two-day summit sent 1,700 representatives, with 41 being represented by their head of state. The Summit unanimously adopted the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan and a Declaration, which calls for strategic partnership aiming at strengthened mutual trust and economic cooperation, especially in the area of joint energy exploration.² Unsurprisingly, China has become Africa’s third largest trading partner following the United States and France, making Africa China’s major foreign source of strategic resources and investment opportunities, and an export market for Chinese commodities.

While the success of the FOCAC clearly indicates that Beijing’s sweeping efforts in recent years to form a close business partnership with Africa have paid off, China’s deepening engagement with Africa is viewed by many policy makers and pundits in the United States and Europe as eroding their own interests and influence on the continent. The aggressive penetration of Chinese national oil companies and Beijing’s close ties with the Sudanese government lie at the heart of their concerns.³ However, within Africa, China’s expansive engagement has raised the hope that much needed infrastructure will finally be built and that China’s strategic approach will raise Africa’s global status, intensify political and market competition, create promising new choices in external partnerships, strengthen African capacities to combat malaria and HIV/AIDS, and promote economic growth.⁴

The contradictory views held by different parties certainly illustrate the complicated nature of China’s presence in the African continent. To demystify the driving forces behind China’s grand African strategy, this article first reviews the historical development of Sino-African ties, then examines the long-term challenges facing China when the goal is to sustain its African policy.

Sino-African Ties: Historical Development

China and Africa are geographically far apart and share neither language nor culture. Yet, in the 10th century BC the Egyptian city of Alexandria started trading with China. Subsequently, Chinese and Africans came into contact as a consequence of Arab and European maritime expeditions occasioned by the slave trade. However, it was only in the second half of the 20th century that China and Africa truly rediscovered each other, most notably at the Bandung Conference on Non-Alignment held 18 to 24 April 1955.⁵

The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt on 30 May 1956 marked the formal beginning of Sino-African ties. At that time, Beijing was in direct ideological conflict with the West, and most countries outside the Soviet bloc recognised the Kuomintang administration in Taiwan as the sole government of China. In a desperate need to boost the legitimacy of its regime and to counter “American-led imperialism’s encirclement”, China considered Africa a strategically important diplomatic arena. The shared ideological belief of anti-colonialism and Third World cooperation made close bilateral relations desirable for both parties. Moreover, China’s recognition of the importance of economic incentives made Sino-African ties even more appealing. Soon after Sino-Egypt diplomatic recognition, Chinese aid poured into Africa. On 12 October 2006, Deputy Commerce Minister Wei Jianguo revealed that China had helped 49 African countries establish more than 700 projects in fisheries, telecommunication, hydropower, education and health care since 1956.⁶ One of the highest-profile projects in Africa undertaken by China was the construction of the 1,860-kilometre Tanzam Railway between 1970 and 1975. Though...