News Letter

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Justine Salam / Hany Besada 41
SBE, Vol.20, No.1, 2017
ISSN 1818-1228
©Copyright 2017/College of Business and Economics,
Qatar University
as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC), China has also ensured a constant
dialogue with African countries in order to
implement Chinese promises in the continent.
At the 2006 summit of FOCAC for example,
various policies were established such as the
creation of the China-Africa Development
Fund and the creation of trade and economic
cooperation zones30 .
Despite its obvious interest in African oil and
natural resources, China refrained from over-
emphasizing it as it prefers to project itself
as a reliable and long-term economic partner
for Africa, thus expanding its interests on a
broad range of economic exchanges31. Aid, for
example, has been one of the main channels
used by China to improve its prestige and
influence in Africa, including “[g]rant aid,
interest-free loans and concessional loans are
all deployed, as are non-monetary forms of aid,
such as technical assistance and training, and
other simulative tools such as debt relief and
tariff exemptions”32. FOCAC and the China
Export-Import Bank (China ExIm Bank) are
also involved in several projects focusing on
energy, infrastructure (with the construction of
hospitals and rural schools) and transportation
(especially related to oil facilities in oil-rich
countries like Sudan). Thus, China is looking
at a long-term relationship and is already
thinking ahead, helping some African states
to develop economically and to become stable
partners in the future.
30 67
31 Large, D.“Beyond ‘Dragon in the Bush’: The Study of
China–Africa Relations.” African Affairs, 107/426: 2008,
Pp. 45–61. ; Sun, Y. “China’s Increasing Interest in Africa:
Benign but Hardly Altruistic.” Brookings. URL: https://
increasing-interest-in-africa-benign-but-hardly-altruistic/
(2013); Ayodele, T. “Misconceptions About China’s
Interests in Africa.” Georgetown Journal of International
Affairs. URL:
misconceptions-about-chinas-interest-in-africa/ , 2015
32 Raine, S. China’s African Challenges. London:
Routledge.2009, pp. 65.
On the other hand, China has been
implementing its usual ‘win-win’ strategy,
ensuring that both trade partners have (real)
mutual benefits. By developing the oil sector
in Sudan, China secured important oil supplies
and the Sudanese government secured one
steady economic partner—it has only a few—
along other compensations (i.e. arms). Since
many African countries are particularly in
need of infrastructure development, China
also followed a coalition investment strategy;
Naidu and Davies summarize: “Multiple
Chinese state-owned companies across diverse
industries are politically orchestrated to engage
a recipient African economy in a way that can
include tying energy acquisitions to funding
for infrastructure development.”33. Overall,
China’s goal is obviously long-term but similar
to the Middle Eastern case, it has focused on
purchasing assets to avoid over-reliance on the
global oil market and protect its access to oil at
all times34.
China is taking its commitment to Africa very
seriously and has explored new venues for
cooperation in addition to natural resources.
Furthermore, China’s equity ownership
strategy has proven to be very efficient in
terms of control over foreign oil supplies but
has raised immediate concerns in Washington
who worried about China’s growing influence.
Among others, Washington has been
particularly interested in China’s economic
strategy, known as the Beijing Consensus, in
order to determine whether it could become
a threat to American business strategy and
United States’ energy security in the Middle
East and North Africa. I will briefly explain
the the Beijing Consensus and the Washington
33 Naidu, S. and Davies, M. China Fuels its Future with
Africa’s Riches. Johannesburg: South African Journal of
International Affairs 13: 69-83. (2006), pp. 80.
34 Taylor, I. “China’s Oil Diplomacy in Africa.” John
Wiley & Sons. New York: International Affairs 82: 942.
(2006)