China-Africa Relations: Past, Present & Future Win-Win
The 1949-1999 Era
The Long March from October 1934 to October 1935 was an historic journey of 6000 miles (9656 km) where the Communist army forces, led by Chairman Mao, marched to Yan’an to establish a new Communist base. They started out with 80 000 soldiers and ended up with about 9000. Those 9000 soldiers then reorganised themselves and won the war that led to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
This revolutionary armed struggle became one of the inspirations for African liberation movements and thus began some of China’s influence on the African continent. Chairman Mao’s maxim that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun” drew the attention of African freedom fighters and his theory of the people’s army and the people’s war and his other military writings were studied. Beginning in the late ’50s, China reached out to liberation war movements and offered support which led to the beginning of a China-Africa relationship that has been constantly growing ever since.
The Chinese were allowed by Tanzania, Ghana and Congo-Brazzaville to train freedom fighters from other liberation movements on their territory. Some African freedom fighters went to China for military training at the Nanjing Military Academy. Some of the training was based on lessons from China’s revolutionary armed struggle and students were sometimes taken on the Long March route to have an appreciation of what the Chinese went through. The Organisation of African Unity Liberation Committee also received a large part of its military aid from China during 1971 and 1972. Liberation movements in countries such as Algeria, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Sierra Leon, Cameroon, Mali, Togo, Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa received some form of military assistance from China.
Apart from assisting African liberation movements China gave economic and technical assistance to newly independent African states such as Tanzania and Zambia. In 1964 Premier Zhou Enlai toured 10 African states and, while in Somalia, he announced China’s “Eight principles on Economic and Technical Assistance”. The principles were:
China always bases itself on the principle of equality and mutual benefit in providing aid to other nations.
• China never attaches any conditions or asks for any privileges.
• China helps lighten the burden of recipient countries as much as possible by providing economic assistance through interest free or low interest loans and extending the repayment period.
• China aims at helping recipient countries to gradually achieve self-reliance and independent development.
• China strives to develop aid projects that require less investment but yield quicker results. • China provides the best-quality equipment and materials of its own manufacture at international market prices.
• In providing technical assistance, China shall see to it that the personnel of the recipient country fully master such techniques.
• The Chinese experts are not allowed to make any special demands or enjoy any special amenities.
Soon after Premier Zhou Enlai’s Africa tour China gave Tanzania and Zambia interest-free loans and embarked on the Tazara railway, which is a railroad in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province, which was built from 1970 to 1975.
The 1982-1983 11 Nation African tour by the then Premier Zhao Ziyang saw the Chinese announce four new guiding principles for Chinese cooperation with Africa. These were: China attaches no conditions to its aid, development projects should yield practical results, projects should promote self-reliance and cooperation contracts must be observed by both sides. New economic aid to some African countries also followed that trip.
When President Jiang Zemin toured Africa in 1996 he reiterated that the guiding principle that China follows in developing relations with African countries is "to treat each other as equals, develop sincere friendship, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, and seek common development."
The period from1949-1999 marked The People’s Republic of China’s first 50 years. During this period we can see that China-Africa relations were primarily based on political solidarity. Africa benefited in that she received assistance in attaining political independence for some of her nations and also economic aid for some of her newly independent nations. China benefited from the support and goodwill it built up from African countries which helped legitimise its “One China” policy and attain its seat at the United Nations.
China was also able to use this period to differentiate itself from the West and show itself as understanding Africa better and being willing to treat Africa as an equal. China being the largest developing country and Africa being the continent with the largest number of developing countries, there was a mutual understanding which fostered a friendship. China-Africa trade was not substantial during this period, reaching US$6.5 billion in 1999 compared to US$210 billion in 2013. Africa was still primarily doing business with the West. China and Africa became comrades who were united in fighting imperialism. China-Africa relations focused more on South-South solidarity while setting the stage for the next phase.
From 2000 to the present day
The year 2000 marked an important shift in China Africa relations. In October 2000, President Jiang Zemin spoke at the opening ceremony of the Forum for China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Ministerial Conference in Beijing. He said that China and Africa should make concerted efforts to establish “a new international political and economic order”.
Following the formation of FOCAC the Chinese and African countries began to do some serious business. China Africa trade has jumped from US$6.5 billion in 1999 to US$210 billion in 2013. Chinese businesses have been encouraged to invest in Africa as part of the “Go Abroad” policy. The major destinations of Chinese investments in Africa are South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan. This has seen the birth of a ‘Resources-for-Infrastructure’ model as seen in Angola and many other African countries.
Africa has benefited from the increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and new Infrastructure and China has benefited by securing a steady supply of raw materials for its industry and establishing a new market for its products. The China-Africa relationship has shifted from primarily political to economic.
In his speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam in 2013, China President Xi said “China will continue strengthening and advancing its relationship with Africa”. In December 2015 he backed his words up at the FOCAC conference which was held in South Africa, who is China’s biggest African trading partner. This marked the first time that this conference was held on the African continent. President Xi announced a $60 billion package for Africa to fund the industrialisation and development of Africa. China has clearly identified Africa as a strategic partner.
The Future
What does the future hold for China Africa relations? We may not know what tomorrow holds but we can have an indication of what is to come based on current developments. China is known as a long term planner; therefore one can safely assume that the moves that China has made in Africa are all part of a long term plan. What is that plan? The answer lies in what China needs.
It is no secret that China has a large appetite for resources and therefore will continue securing a long term supply of these resources especially energy resources. China’s population will keep growing (0.5%) and the economy will keep growing (estimated to overtake the US economy at some point) so China will continue to further its interests by investing in and trading with Africa for the foreseeable future.
Labour costs in China are increasing. The minimum wage which was about $115 a month in 2006 is about $337 a month in 2015. This has led to a rise in manufacturing costs therefore it is a reality that China plans to locate some of its low end manufacturing processes offshore. Africa is a great option for China largely because of its available resources and also because it provides access to markets in and out of Africa for finished goods.
A Chinese owned factory in Africa can take advantage of The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – a United States Trade Act which enhances market access to the US – and get its products into the US market duty free. The proximity to Europe of a country such as Ethiopia is also appealing to the Chinese manufacturing on the continent. It is reasonable to say that China manufacturing in Africa will be a reality in the future.
China will continue to build infrastructure in Africa not out of the goodness of its heart but as a necessity. Poor infrastructure will make it difficult for China to extract resources and to set up factories in Africa. The focus by China on infrastructure development in Africa seems to be the implementation of part of the long term plan. Once the electricity, roads, rail, telecoms etc. are in place, then it will make sense to locate some manufacturing in Africa with access to reasonably priced resources.
What’s in it for Africa? The first thing for Africa is to realise that just as much as Africa needs China for trade and investment, China also needs Africa. The relationship has become predominantly economic and there is interdependence. This means Africa should not see itself as negotiating deals with China from a point of weakness but of strength. Africa is an equal at the negotiating table.
Africa will get infrastructure which will lead to an industrial revolution if Africa takes advantage of this moment. African governments need to set up teams of their best negotiators when deals with China are being done to ensure that there is a genuine win-win. A long term approach is needed when applying the resources for infrastructure model. Africa must know the value of the resources it is exchanging for infrastructure and ensure a fair exchange.
Africa should use the Chinese to build infrastructure in some of the most underdeveloped areas in the same way that China opened up ‘bushes’ in China to FDI and transformed them into manufacturing hubs. This infrastructure will lead to the stimulating of economic growth.
The youth of Africa need to be skilled and prepared for this eventuality. Africa must analyse which skills will be needed and start preparing young people now. The biggest beneficiaries of this China-Africa relationship should be the young people of Africa as the resources that have brought the Chinese to Africa are their inheritance. This relationship must therefore give them jobs, access to opportunity and a better life.
The West will continue to criticise and attack Africa-China relations as it has the potential to create “a new international political and economic order”, which is not in their interest. Africa must not be deterred but must capitalise on this relationship with China to achieve economic independence and improve the lives of her people just as she did in the past to attain political independence.
The Chinese typically take time to build a relationship before getting down to business. They took time to build a relationship with Africa as she fought for political independence and now China is getting down to business and it will ensure that it gets a win. Africa must therefore also get down to business and ensure a win too so that this relationship can be a win-win in the future as it has been in the past. ■
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