ACCORD WITH AFRICA

By Yu Lintao

Xi’s state visits further revitalize Sino-African relations

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Tanzania, the newly elected leader hailed China’s friendship with the African country as one deeply rooted in the hearts of both peoples. Speaking neither in exaggeration nor cliché, his words were an accurate portrayal of the China-Africa relationship.

Xi visited Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo in late March during his first trip abroad as Chinese president. Though China’s African policy has been misunderstood and demonized in recent years by some Western media, the traditional brotherly friendship between Chinese and African peoples enjoys a long history.

Observers said that Xi’s choice to visit African countries in his first overseas trip in office undoubtedly highlights the great importance China assigns to the Sino-African relationship.

It is true that Sino-African economic relations have developed quickly in recent years,but the current positive state of relations between China and African countries is based on their historic friendship and equality as well as mutual benefit, they said.

Long-standing friendship

China and Africa have maintained a close friendship for the last half century, marked by mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, said He Wenping, a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since the mid-20th century, Chinese and African peoples have supported each other on their just cause of fighting imperialism and seeking development. It is well known that in 1971, with the enormous support of African countries, China restored its lawful status in the UN. Late Chinese leader Mao Zedong once remarked, “It was our African brothers that carried us into the UN.”

During his brief stay in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania, Xi paid a visit to a cemetery where 69 Chinese experts who lost their lives while on aid missions to Tanzania in the 1970s were buried,accompanied by Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

More than 40 years ago, over 50,000 Chinese experts, technicians and workers went to Africa. They worked together with Africans to complete the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, which was of great significance for the economic development and decolonization of the African continent.

Li Wentao, a research fellow on African studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Sino-African relations historically focused on mutual political support, but the rapid development of the Chinese economy in the past three decades has made Sino-African economic relations increasingly prominent.

Statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce show that trade volume between China and Africa exceeded $10 billion in 2000,soaring to nearly $20 billion in 2012. In addition,by the end of 2012, China’s direct investment in Africa had accumulated to nearly $20 billion, with 75 percent going to such sectors as finance, infrastructure, processing and manufacturing, trade-related services, agriculture and transportation.

“China’s rapid development is a good opportunity for African countries. The fast growing Chinese economy benefits the African economy a lot,” Li told Beijing Review. “Particularly,the boom in Sino-African trade relations started from the 1990s, at a time when Western countries showed indifference to Africa and many African countries were in financial trouble.Therefore, vigorous Sino-African economic relations did much to assist those countries in overcoming economic difficulties.”

Li noted that the key factor for the rapid growth of Sino-African economic relations is that China is committed to promoting mutually bene ficial cooperation without any political strings attached. “China develops economic relations with African countries on the basis of equality while respecting their way of development, which is welcomed by African countries,”Li said.

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize is frank about how cooperation with China and other BRICS members differs from that with the West.

She said, “The developed world has always been interested in how they can benefit when cooperating with Africa, whereas with China and BRICS it is all about partnerships, the value chain, long-term relationships and cultural ties,all things you don’t hear about in terms of traditional business relationships.”

“Partnerships tend to be long-term and often have a win-win at the center. They also are about respect for each other and real commitment to mutual growth. There is a huge difference [between BRICS and the developed world]—you cannot compare [them],” she added.

Speaking about the proposed BRICS Development Bank, she said, “The terms will be different. All our lives we’ve been dictated to in terms of what the World Bank wants and how we are rated [by credit agencies] and this has nothing to do with our growth.”

Win-win outcome

China considers Africa a market with big potential, while Chinese products have met the needs of African people. African countries also receive generous support from China in technology and investment. Both sides have enjoyed tangible benefits in their cooperation, making it a win-win outcome.

Chinese business people flocked to the BRICS Summit, held in Durban, South Africa, on March 26-27, to look for opportunities to invest in Africa.

Qiu Lixia, President of the Silk Road Group, a Chinese company engaged in high technology, cloud computing and IT, said China can send a lot of products it manufactures to Africa, which has a big emerging market, and also import goods it needs from Africa. “I have made several good contacts to take my business forward,” Qiu said. “Dealing with Africa, despite the challenges, has more potential than the tough struggle to enter developed countries.”

Wally Jiang, President of Greenville International Solar City Westech Enterprises that works in the field of green energy production,was equally optimistic.

“The way investment and trade are taking off between China and Africa is an eyeopener for the rest of the world,” Jiang said.“Historically, China and Africa have links that go back decades and the relationship is built on mutual cooperation and respect,as opposed to the West’s more domineering approach. My company is involved in solar technology and as Africa has so much sunshine, it is a land of much opportunity for us,” he added.

However, China’s intensified engagement with Africa is sometimes denounced in the West as resource-oriented “new colonialism.”

“It is true that resource trade takes a large share of Sino-African trade. But we should also recognize that 90 percent of U.S.-African trade is also resource related,” Li said.

“Being rich in resources and energy is one of the advantages of Africa,” he added. “The major problem is how to turn this resource advantage into a development advantage.”

Li said China sees Africa as a reliable resource supplier, but China’s development of natural resources in Africa is completely different from the way Western colonists did it in the past, which was indeed greedy exploitation.China has provided huge investment and much infrastructure construction for African countries while exploiting resources.

Largely due to the efforts of Chinese companies operating across the continent, Africa is experiencing an explosion in infrastructure construction that has laid a good foundation for the industrialization of African countries.

Figures released at the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held last July showed that China has helped build 100 schools, 30 hospitals and 20 agricultural technology demonstration centers across the African continent within the framework of the FOCAC, which was created in 2000.

In his latest trip to Africa, President Xi reaffirmed China’s pledge to provide a$20-billion credit line to African countries from 2013 to 2015. He said China will promote cooperation in such sectors as transnational and trans-regional infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.

Instead of merely offering financial assistance, China is dedicated to helping enhance African countries’ ability to pursue development on their own by transferring advanced technologies and management skills. Xi has stressed that China will provide not only loans, but also training programs. China plans to help Africa train 30,000 professionals, and provide 18,000 government scholarships to African students from 2013 to 2015.

Challenges

It cannot be denied that with the deepening of engagement in Sino-African relations, problems will unavoidably emerge, which He described as“growing pains.”

The researcher said Chinese enterprises might make mistakes when investing in Africa for a variety of reasons. However, some Western politicians and media tend to exaggerate China’s flaws, and a few negative cases have been overstated as universal conduct.

Li echoed He’s views. Rejecting accusations that Chinese companies do not hire local people, Li said the data he gets shows currently 80 percent of the employees of Chinese enterprises in Africa are local people, including management teams.

According to Li, local labor cost is much lower, and admitting more local people to management teams can make things much easier because they know the local customs and culture. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in local workers’ skill levels.

At the same time, Li cautioned that individual cases of misconduct by Chinese companies abroad might take a heavy toll on China’s image. As overseas Chinese enterprises are not under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Government, China’s Ministry of Commerce is trying to use economic means to make stricter demands of Chinese enterprises to abide by local laws and protect local environments. China also supports the right of governments of countries where Chinese enterprises reside to take legal action against illegal conduct. ■

(With reporting by Francisco Little in Durban,South Africa)