Op-Ed Contributors

China is growing with African nations

By Zhang Hongming (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-08 07:28

Chinese investment, cooperative projects and aid are on the rise but do not compromise Western interests

Sino-African relations have remained on track for all-round and rapid development over the past years under the guidance and propulsion of the well-founded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Enormous progress has been made in political, economic, cultural, security and other fields and bilateral cooperation mechanisms are continuing to steadily improve.

A series of remarkable accomplishments have been achieved in the economic and trade realm, with bilateral trade volume exceeding $100 billion in 2008. China currently remains Africa's second largest trading partner and its investment in the vast continent has seen constant growth. By the end of 2009, the volume of China's accumulative non-financial investment in African countries had surpassed $8 billion and it had become the largest investor in the continent among developing nations.

China's engineering contracting business has also made progress in African countries, increasing nearly 25-fold over the past decade. So far, Africa is China's second largest overseas market in terms of projects contracting.

In addition, active efforts are being made by both sides to promote bilateral cooperation in the financial, telecommunication, tourism, navigation and service sectors.

China has formed distinctive traditions and characteristics in developing ties with Africa, especially in its investment in and economic aid to the continent.

The steady and rapid growth momentum of China's Africa-bound investment has been mainly attributed to the gradual establishment of a market-dominated investment strategy in this vast land, with enterprises other than the government playing the leading role.

Currently, the number of Chinese enterprises investing in Africa exceeds 1,600, with government, private and individual investment constituting a mutually complementary investment structure.

In addition to its prospering investment, China's aid to African countries has also maintained momentum and a continuity of policies. It is China's consistent stance that it does not attach any political preconditions to its economic assistance to African countries.

It is also opposed to the common practices by Western countries in their provision of limited economic aid to the continent, which, since the end of the Cold War, commonly have a variety of additional preconditions.

China's economic aid to the African continent has now extended to more than 50 countries and, by the end of 2009, a total of 900 projects had been set up.

China's economic assistance to Africa aims to increase the recipient nations' economic self-reliance abilities and thus it has preferred to conduct assistance projects with African countries in the field of people's livelihoods. China attaches much importance to the efficacy of these projects.

In its push for economic cooperation with, and assistance to, African countries, China has adhered to the long-cherished principle of equality and regarded all countries with which it has established diplomatic ties as equal partners, without exhibiting any preferences for individual countries.

China's practice is different from the one adopted by France, Germany, Portugal and other Western countries, whose economic assistance to the continent has frequently focused on the respective nation's former colonies. This has been widely denounced as the West attempting to carry forward colonial ties under the guise of economic assistance in the post-colonial period.

Compared to this Western lip service, China is committed to the promises it makes to African countries, no matter what kinds of changes take place. The Chinese government's attitude, together with the devotion displayed by its staff working in Africa, has brought the country widespread favor from the governments and peoples of the recipient countries.

China's efforts to boost economic and trade ties with African countries are not only based on its long-term need for its own economic self-development, African countries' development aspiration and actual demands have also been taken into full consideration.

With the rapid development of Sino-African cooperation, the strategic partnership between China and Africa has also been further consolidated and deepened. Facts prove that booming Sino-African cooperation, especially in the economic and trade fields, meets both sides' common aspiration to develop their economies and improve people's livelihood. It is conducive, not only to China's sustainable economic development, but also to Africa's economic and social development.

At the same time, the flourishing cooperation with China will help boost Africa's international status and expand its strategic potential for international cooperation.

China's prospering cooperation with Africa has also drawn growing international attention, especially from Western countries, where it is believed that China's expanded presence in Africa will squeeze or compromise Western interests in the continent. Undoubtedly, there exist some obvious differences between China and Western countries in their push for cooperation with Africa, either in terms of policies and cooperation methods.

However, China's economic and trade ties with African countries are not targeted at any third party. In the context of globalization, China always holds an open attitude towards cooperation with Africa and never excludes any international coordination.

China's gains in Africa do not mean a loss for other countries. China and Western countries enjoy different advantages in Africa.

What they should care about is how their presence in African countries can help promote the continent's development while this presence brings some economic benefits for themselves.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.