University of Groningen
China's relationships with Africa re-appraised
Jiang, Bin
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Jiang, B. (2019). China's relationships with Africa re-appraised: the lense of domestic experiences in agricultural technology extension and its reflection in China's foreign policy towards Africa. University of Groningen.
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CHAPTER 3
1. Introduction
The China-Africa relationship is one of the most important developments in international relations in the 21st century (Zhang, 2013), as demonstrated when the eyes of the world fell on the Beijing Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2006. Delegations from 48 African countries gathered in the Chinese capital with the international press reporting on proceedings (Brautigam, 2009). Following this event, there has been an unprecedented increase in discussions and exchanges of views on Sino-African relations (Zhang, 2012). Two key areas, which also form a focus for this chapter, are China’s motivation for Sino-African cooperation and an evaluation of the Chinese foreign policy regarding Africa (Zhang, 2013).
This chapter starts by examining international development cooperation with Africa in general. Different countries or regions each have their own, characteristic approach to development cooperation with the continent. Therefore, to find out if there are differences and similarities from the Chinese assistance to Africa. Also, an important element of this chapter is a description and summary of the four different phases of Chinese development policy on Africa since 1949. This is followed by an assessment of China’s main policy goals with respect to the Sino-African collaboration. In addition, neorealist perspectives are used to analyse Chinese development policy towards Africa and in order to evaluate whether neorealism can fully explain the emergence of the China-Africa relationship with a specific ankle of the characteristics of agricultural extension.
2. International development cooperation with Africa
International development cooperation with Africa in general has important experiences and lessons for Sino-African development cooperation. The US, Russia and the EU all have long-term engagements with Africa in the form of development cooperation or foreign aid to Africa, and the characteristics of the relationships that these three global powers have with Africa is worthy of further inspection.
2.1 United States development cooperation in Africa
The relationship between the US and Africa with respect to development assistance and cooperation has been through several different stages (Zhang, 2013). American assistance to Africa can be characterized by a diplomatic
strategy; specifically, the US directly links military and political objectives and conditions to development aid (Adebajo, 2003).
Before the Second World War, Africa was not within the range of American strategic interests range. After the war, the US’s power had increased substantially and it sought to expand its interests in Africa and elsewhere (Arkhurst, 1975). During the Cold War, with the United States and the Soviet Union competing for global influence, the United States made repeated adjustments to its African policies, but its overall focus remained on those countries including Morocco, Libya, Ethiopia, Liberia and South Africa, that were strategically important in terms of curbing the expansion of Soviet forces in the region (Zhang, 2013). After the end of the Cold War, with the Soviet collapse and Russian influence in Africa receding, Africa’s role in US global strategy declined dramatically (Clough, 1992).
1) American foreign assistance policies
In 1961, America approved the Foreign Assistance Act, which defined the law relating to US assistance to foreign countries. This act institutionalized American foreign assistance. Since then, the US has constantly amended the law and expanded its remit in terms of the areas this foreign assistance policy covers. In addition, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act and Food Assistance Act were approved in 1954, followed by the 1989 SEED Act and the Free Assistance Act of 1992, and the American leadership to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act in 2003. These acts underpin a strategy of American foreign assistance with an objective to safeguard American security and to promote American foreign policies by providing to military, economic and technological assistance (Zhang, 2012).
In May 2007, the 2007–2012 Fiscal Year Strategic Plan was jointly issued by the US State Department and the Agency for International Development. This identified seven strategic objectives of American foreign assistance: promoting peace and security; equity, democracy and good governance; investing in people; promoting economic growth and prosperity; providing humanitarian assistance; enhancing international understanding; and improving consular administration and management. This plan firmly established Africa as first in the queue in terms of recipients of regional assistance (Zhang, 2013).
President Obama lauded Africa’s achievements with respect to democratization and economic liberalization in the US National Security Strategy Report in 2010, and attributed the success to America’s strategy of assistance to Africa. He reiterated America’s commitment to strengthening development cooperation with African countries (Zhang, 2012).
2) The main focus of American assistance to Africa
The Global Health and Child Survival Project is the biggest project of American assistance to Africa. The proportion of funds allocated to this project from the total amount of financial assistance to Africa is rising year on year (Zhang, 2012).
More generally, the proportion of the overall US budget allocated to development assistance remains roughly around 15%. It is noteworthy that the scale of American military assistance to Africa has been increasing. In recent years, the money spent on military assistance to Africa was 0.29% in 2008 and grew to 0.41% in 2010. The proportion of American medical and health assistance to African countries, however, is larger (Zhang, 2013:32-39).
Of course, Africa comprises diverse countries with many different needs and America tailors its assistance accordingly (Rice, 2005). For example, 64.7% of American aid in 2010 took the form of humanitarian assistance, and 13.2% was used to promote economic growth in the Republic of the Sudan. However, the American Assistance Centre used 99.2% of its budget in the area of health and education in the Republic of Benin. In terms of agriculture, the main focus of US assistance is providing food aid. Indeed, in 2010, the value of food aid from America to Africa has reached $US 1.4 billion (Dagne, 2011:2-9).
Mining absorbs the biggest share of American investments in Africa, currently accounting for 53.9%; other major fields for American investment include the financial sector (15.3%), manufacturing (6.9%), and the information and technology industry (1.7%).9
3) The main US development cooperation institutions
9
Data from http://www.bea.gov/international/xls/pos_longcty_10.xls (Accessed on: 2016-08-07).
The main decision-making institutions with respect to American assistance to Africa are The White House, the State Council and the Congress. The White House and the State Council are the main policymakers in terms of American foreign assistance. According to the needs and standards of the policies of national diplomacy and security, the State Department submits a proposal for the geographical distribution of bilateral assistance funds and the national allocation scheme to the Congress. Only after the Congress approves the recipient countries and the assistance areas, as well as the amount of financial assistance can the State Department implement and manage the development assistance funds. This illustrates the extent of Congressional power as a decision-making institution in US government foreign assistance (Zhang, 2013).
The USAID is the main implementer of American foreign assistance. In 1961, at the same time as the US enacted the previously mentioned Foreign Assistance Act, it established the Agency for International Development, replacing the US Agency for International Cooperation, which laid the basic framework of American foreign assistance. USAID is the primary institution of American foreign assistance. It maintains a close relationship with the Congress and regularly receives foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C., but it works all over the world and has branches in 67 countries. Its main areas of assistance are: economic growth, trade and agriculture; health, such as HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; democracy, conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance (including disaster relief). USAID’s main source of funding comes from an annual budget, approved by the Congress (Zhang, 2012).
The US government uses two main implementation methods for its assistance to Africa: 1) bilateral assistance, engaged by non-governmental organizations, private not-for-profit organizations, government contractors and African government departments and agencies. 2) multilateral assistance, also called indirect assistance, provided in the form of financial contributions to international financial agencies and the United Nations, who then use this to implement their own projects in Africa (Zhang, 2013).
2.2 Russian development cooperation in Africa
The African continent is rich in oil and mineral resources and an important traffic hub between the West and the East, making it a key strategic location. Accordingly, the United States and the Soviet Union competed for influence
and strategic dominance over Africa in their bids to achieve world hegemony (Matusevich, 2007). However, due to the impact of domestic political and economic difficulties, Russia's relationship with Africa declined after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s. From the 21st century, the Russian government began to actively promote the development of bilateral relations with Africa. On the one hand, as Africa’s economic strength grew, so did the demand for Russian foreign trade and economic cooperation; on the other hand, by increasing diplomatic investment, the Russian government also hoped to regain its status as a political superpower, in order to provide maximum protection for the nation’s global economic interests. Thus, the bilateral development cooperation relations between Russia and Africa became increasingly stable (Zhang, 2012).
1) Russian foreign assistance policies
The overall scale of Russia’s foreign assistance is small. Generally, the country focuses on the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and some less developed countries. Russia’s foreign assistance policy has followed a relatively tortuous path in the past half century (Matusevich, 2007). In the early period after World War II, Europe was at the centre of Russian diplomatic policy and the main recipients of Russian aid were the countries of Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union shifted its focus and started to intervene in African affairs as its competition with the US for world hegemony increased during the Cold War. Political and military assistance were the defining aspects of Russia’s relationship with Africa during this period, but economic and trade relations were also emerging (Zhang, 2012).
Russia experienced serious setbacks in its relationship with Africa as a result of the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War (Matusevich, 2007). Until 1993, the Basic Principles of the Ideas of Russia’s Diplomatic Policies were republished and for the first time it elaborated the post-Cold War diplomatic policies of the Russian government. This document pointed out that the focus of Russia’s foreign assistance policy for Africa had shifted to mutual cooperation. This was in line with national interests and the transformation under way in international relations more generally from military and political confrontation to mitigating issues in the developing world through conciliation. Russia has gained a new understanding of the nature of its relationship with Africa, which requires
optimizing military cooperation and shifting focus to commercial ventures, albeit under strict compliance with international agreements and the rules that control weapons supply (Zhang, 2012).
In June 2000, Putin signed The Ideas of Russia’s Diplomatic Policies, a key document in terms of defining his regime’s foreign policies. In particular, this document pointed out that Russia intended to expand its cooperation with African countries and help mediate regional conflicts in African. It also acknowledge the need for Russia to carry out remediation dialogue with the OAU（Organization of African Unity） and sub-regional organizations in order for it to be able to participate in multilateral economic projects on the African continent (Fidan, 2010). In July 2008, the Russian government issued a new version of The Ideas of Russia’s Diplomatic Policies, which was a development of and a supplement to the old document. This new document now indicated that Russia would indeed carry out remediation dialogue with the OAU and other sub-regional organizations so that it could participate in multilateral economic projects on the African continent (Zuo, 2008).
2) The main focus of Russian assistance to Africa and the role of agriculture Social development fields such as education and health care are established priorities within Russia's official development assistance to Africa; but it was rarely involved in the production field. In terms of Russian debt relief, this was usually related to trade debts and loans accumulated by African HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries)s. The Soviet Union consistently trained large numbers of technical experts and specialized personnel for Africa, and Russia continues this policy of providing training assistance to Africa each year (Matusevich, 2007).
Traditionally, North African countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have been business partners for Russia and agricultural products are an important feature of Russian and North African import/export businesses (Zhang, 2012). In addition, Russia has obtained fishing licences for Namibia’s exclusive economic zone, which deliver between 0.15 million and 0.2 million tons of fish per year. Moreover, the mineral and petroleum industries form an important focus for Russian-African development cooperation (Tan, 2009: 3-5).
Russian foreign assistance is mainly implemented in the form of official development assistance, and majority of the funding for recipient countries is distributed via the Office of Development Assistance (ODA) of the United Nations’ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Russia does not have its own unified administration for foreign assistance, so aid is specifically implemented by several departments. For example, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is responsible for humanitarian assistance; the bureaus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are in charge of implementing bilateral assistance; and the Department of Foreign Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates all matters related to debt relief (Zhang, 2012).
Currently, the majority of Russian assistance is provided through multilateral channels, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations system, as well as funds for particular purposes (Zhang, 2013). Russia is not a member state of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, but the Russian government has stated that it will provide a report to the Committee providing details of its foreign assistance at some point in the future（Zhang, 2012）.
2.3 European Union development cooperation for Africa
Africa is significant for European countries, especially in terms of geopolitics. Indeed, Africa is considered as Europe’s ‘backyard’. The bilateral relations between Europe and Africa are considered the world’s oldest recorded diplomatic relationship in political history. Given the colonial heritage of some African countries, the relationship between the two continents can be seen as a 'double-edged sword'. On the one hand, some EU countries are still habitually involved with some African countries’ internal affairs, to the detriment of EU policies in Africa; on the other hand, because of the colonial history, the relationship of the two continents remains tightly bound to this day (Zhang, 2013).
In the 1990s, the EU has paid less attention to Africa and focused more on Eastern European countries. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, with the rise of emerging markets, the international system is facing new pressure for change, and as China, Brazil and several other newly developing forces enter the global arena and also impacting the African continent, the EU has, in turn, started to adjust its policies towards Africa (Zhang, 2012).
1) Adjustment of EU policies towards Africa
In 2000, the EU enacted The Development Policy Strategy, (DPS). Then, in 2005, this document was revised and re-issued as European Consensus on Development. This new strategy made poverty alleviation the core goal of the EU’s foreign development cooperation policies. Later, the EU promulgated the European Code of Conduct on Complementarities and Division of Labor, which largely concentrated on constructing a mode that is based on the comparative advantages of the division of labour between EU member countries. These policy adjustments have played a significant role in improving coordination between EU member states on foreign development cooperation (Hackenesch, 2009).
The EU believes that the main reason for the failure of many development programmes in Africa is corruption, poor governance and a lack of national capacities (Zhang, 2013). In response, the current EU Strategy for Africa (2005) states that “successful development assistance needs to adhere to human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law; an efficient, good governance of the recipient government; and a strong and efficient governance system.’ Hence, the EU’s foreign aid always comes with political conditions for recipient countries.
2) Primary forms and fields of EU assistance to African countries
EU assistance to Africa is primarily financial and technical, but also takes the form of food aid and debt relief. Financial assistance consists of free grants and subsidies for fields such as education, health care, agriculture and the environment. It also comes in the form of long-term preferential loans that embody governmental development assistance. Such loans are frequently used to support economic infrastructure and integrated environmental management (Zhang, 2012).
Technical assistance includes personnel training, research cooperation and technical consulting, which has the goal of improving African countries’ technical and management capacities (Zhang, 2013). Food aid from EU to Africa is governed by the Food Aid Convention (FAC),10 signed by the
10
FAC was initiated in 1967 and resigned in 1999,
http://www.foodaidconvention.org/en/index/faconvention.aspx (Accessed on: 2016-08-20).
US, Canada, Australia and the EU, among others. Between 2008 and 2009, the FAC member states provided 5.3 million tons of food assistance to Sub-Saharan countries.11
Debt relief is another key form of European assistance to Africa and is administered in multilateral ways. Formal discussions regarding Africa’s debt issue first took place at the G7 Summit of 1987. It remained an important agenda item at subsequent G7 Summits in 1988, 1991 and 1994, during which a number of decisions were made with respect to relieving heavily indebted poor countries. For example, in 1996, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formulated the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which is still being implemented today. In 2006, the World Bank, IMF, African Development Bank and other organizations proposed a Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, which is still current (Zhang, 2012).
The amount of European aid for African agricultural development continues to increase. In 2007, official development aid accounted for a mere 0.40% of the combined Gross National Incomes (GNI) of EU member states, exceeding the intermediate target set by the EU in 2006 by exactly 0.39%. The aid provided by the EU Committee has increased by 3% in 2006, reflecting the addition of budget support and an improved ability to make payments. If the EU wants to achieve the common goal of 0.56%, faster progress is necessary (Zhang, 2013:56-64).
3) Primary EU development assistance institutions
The main EU institutions with respect to its aid to Africa except for European Commission and because of the Western countries’ partnership. EU development assistance is also distributed to Africa via the World Bank, IMF and various organizations within the UN system. As previously mentioned in this chapter, the rise of emerging economies such as China, Brazil, and India is having a significant impact on the African continent, and the EU is searching for new partnerships in Africa and initiating new, related organizations (Barton & Men, 2013).
11
FAC official website, http://www.foodaidconvention.org/en/default.aspx (Accessed on: 2016-08-20).
2.4 Discussion
The approaches to development cooperation with Africa detailed above reveal that the US, Russia, and the EU each have their own relationship and version of cooperation with differing characteristics. Each country’s foreign policies are a core element that determine these characteristics and, together with other political factors, they shape the US-Africa, Russia-Africa, EU-Africa relationships and their collaborative development projects.
The Cold War period saw the US and Russia focused attention on Africa in a bid to gain global power. This is illustrative of the neorealist idea of great power and its influence on international power distribution. But as the Cold War came to an end and new powers arose on the global stage, the strategies of the US and Russia towards Africa gradually changed.
By contrast, the EU’s relationship with Africa has been more stable. This is partly influenced by historical, i.e. colonial, factors. In the last three decades, the collaboration programmes between the EU and Africa have mainly taken place through UN and EU agencies. Given the many EU member states, EU is more likely to show European countries’ cooperation for assisting Africa. EU’s model to aid Africa deliver a positive story for different parties to collaborate in development cooperation programs to Africa.
It is clear that agriculture is a key field in the United States’, Russia’s and the Europe’s development cooperation with Africa, as it is in the Sino-African relationship. As the following parts of this study will show, however, unlike the cases of US, Russia and the EU, whose assistance tends to focus on financial support, food aid or agribusiness, technology transfer plays a key role in China’s agricultural cooperation with Africa.
3. The development of China’s foreign policy towards Africa since 1949 There have been four phases in the development of Chinese foreign policy to Africa from 1949 until present. Each of the four phases has been influenced by political and economic factors, which have resulted in adjustments to the strategy (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
3.1 First phase: from 1949 to 1978
During this period, characterized by China and many African countries winning independence, China’s foreign policy was focused on diplomacy designed to maintain this new-found independence, and on achieving equality, countering oppression, and guarding against colonialism and imperialism. Moreover, ideological and political factors frequently influenced China’s foreign policy in this period (Yu, 1988). The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 and, at that time, the country’s international standing was weak and it lacked prestige. This was also a phase that saw the Chinese government seeking support from other countries in its attempt to prevent Taiwan’s independence. As previously mentioned, this was at a time when many African countries were obtaining their independence. As part of this developing world, China embarked on relationships with a number of African states. During this first phase, the main content of Chinese foreign policy with respect to Africa was guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, presented by Premier Zhou Enlai at the Asian-African Conference in 1955 (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are: Mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence (White Paper, 2014). In 1964, the Chinese government announced a further Eight Principles of Foreign Economic and Technical Assistance,12 the key points of which are:
First, Chinese government has always provided the principle of equality and mutual benefit of foreign aid, never put such aid regarded as a unilateral alms but believe aid is mutual. Second, Chinese government is strict respect recipient countries’ sovereignty and never come with any conditions while offering foreign assistance. Third, Chinese government offers interest-free or low-interest loans to recipient countries, if necessary, China will extend the payment period in order to minimize the burden on recipient countries. Fourth, the purpose of foreign assistance of China is not caused by the recipient countries dependent on China but to help the recipient countries gradually embarked on self-reliance and economic independence on the road of development. Fifth, the aim of the projects that China help recipient
countries build is strive to less investment and quick results, so that the recipient governments may increase their income and accumulate capital. Sixth, Chinese government offers its own best quality manufacture equipment and materials, and in accordance with international market prices bargaining. If the equipment and material provided by the Chinese government does not meet the agreed specifications and quality, the Chinese Government undertakes to replace them. Seventh, any kind of technical assistance that Chinese government provide will make sure that recipient countries’ technicians take full advantage of this technology. Eighth, the experts that China send to help the constructions of recipient countries will have the same material treatment as the recipient countries’ own experts, the Chinese specialists are not allow any special requirements. With these principles, China established the basic principles of foreign aid. With these Five principles and Eight Principles, China forms its original foreign policy towards other countries, not only for the African countries.
In the 1960’s, China published its Foreign Aid Policy (White Paper, 2011). I have reproduced part of this significant document below. It is noteworthy that the aim of the first two commitments (“adhere to[s]”), is to improve both China and Africa’s national security in accordance with Waltz’s (1990)view that the ultimate goal of a nation is national safety. These two commitments also highlight an aim to improve recipient countries’ capacity for self-development. Both these pledges are made without any political conditions, an approach that China believes respects its and Africa’s national independence and increases national security.
The final three commitments relate to economic cooperation and development, which is directly reflected in the sentence “mutually benefit and win-win by cooperating with other developing countries in the aspect of economy and technology”. China’s Foreign Aid Policy would seem, therefore, to support Gilpin’s (2011) claim on economic elements are more important than political ones in international systems.
Content of China’s Foreign Aid Policy (2011) 13
Adhere to help the recipient countries to improve the capacity of self-development. It has been proved that one country’s development
13
Translated from: White Paper. (2011). China’s Foreign Aid, Chinese State Council
mainly depends on its own power. When providing foreign aid to the recipient countries, China strives as much as possible to train local talents and technological power for them, to help them to build infrastructure and to assist in the development and utilization of national resources, which can make them lay a solid foundation for development and then embark gradually on the road of self-reliance and independent development.
Adhere to attach without any political conditions. China sticks to Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence respect the recipient countries’ right to independently choose the paths and the models of development, believes that every country can explore a development path which is suited to the national conditions and never considers the provision of foreign aid as the means to interfere other countries’ internal affairs and to seek political privileges.
Adhere to equality, mutual benefit and common development. China insists on deeming foreign aid as the mutual help among the developing countries, pays attention on the actual effect, takes care of the interest of the other side and focuses on promoting the bilateral friendly relations, mutually benefit and win-win by cooperating with other developing countries in the aspect of economy and technology.
Adhere both to try its best and to act according to its abilities. Depending on its own national conditions and national power, China makes best effort to provide assistance in the scale and manner. In addition, China emphasizes on plenty exerting its comparative advantages and maximally considering the practical requirements of the recipient countries.
Adhere to keep up with the times, reform and innovate. China provides assistance by adapting to domestic and foreign changes, stresses on summing up the experience, enhances the innovation of the manner of foreign aid, timely adjustments and reforms the management mechanism and continuously improves the level of foreign aid.
During this period, we can define the China-Africa relationship and Chinese foreign aid to Africa as follows: Firstly, the aim of foreign assistance is to help African countries achieve economic independence (agricultural aid is an core element), as set out in the Eight Principles of
Chinese Foreign Aid, and, ultimately, to be able to develop without reliance on Chinese aid. Secondly, China’s aid is not unilateral alms but based on mutual benefit. Thirdly, the aid is unconditional, as illustrated by a 1963 China and Algeria Joint communiqué, which stated “foreign aid, in any case should not be any conditions attached” (Zhang, 2012). It is important to note that, at this time, Sino-African cooperation was, on the whole, one-way development assistance from China to Africa. In return, China expected African countries to help it get a legitimate seat at the United Nations, which, in turn, would give it a higher level of international influence (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
3.2 Second phase: from 1979 to 1989
Since 1978, China has made a series of reforms to improve its national development strategy. The year 1978 is an epochal turning point in Chinese history. China’s main national goal at this time is economic development, rather than political and ideological construction, and it is during this period that China starts its Reform and Opening Up Policy.14 Deng Xiaoping is the major sponsor of these reforms during his premiership from 1978 until 1989. During this period, Chinese agriculture made huge progress in its development path (Zhang, 2012). Hence, it should be noted, that, in this study, the second phase of China-Africa relationship is taken to be from 1979 to 1989.
The above-mentioned reforms had a positive influence on both domestic development and China’s international relations. The Chinese domestic economy was in a state of stagnation or even recession during the Cultural Revolution (1966~1976). The Reform and Opening Up Policy was an attempt to address the damaged caused to the Chinese society and economy by the Cultural Revolution. It is characterized by a goal of developing the economy by reforming the economic system and establishing a market economy (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
The improvements in the domestic economy have led to some changes in Chinese foreign policy toward Africa. During this period, the Chinese
14
Reform and Opening Up, determined by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, December of 1978. This policy changed China’s highly centralized planned economy into a socialist market economic system. Its main sponsor was Premier Deng Xiaoping.
government started to develop relations with Western developed countries as both a recipient and a donor country. China began to learn from other countries’ foreign assistance experiences during this phase (Zhang, 2013). In addition, the focus of China’s policy towards Africa was encouraging the self-development of African countries. This, in turn, gave rise to a number of aid measures. This period is characterized by the emergence of Chinese development cooperation and assistance (Zhang, 2012).
The beginning of the 1980s was a period when no country posed a specific or realistic threat to Chinese national security. Indeed, in a bid to conform to the global trend for peace and development, China began to implement an independent, non-aligned foreign policy in the form of diplomacy. The main task of China's foreign policy at this time was to create conditions for domestic reform and to foster opening up and economic development, rather than developing allies to strengthen China’s position against its enemies (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
From 1982 to 1983, the Chinese government presented the Four Principles of Economic and Technological Cooperation with Africa. The main contents of this policy were equality and mutual benefit; various forms of assistance; focus on pragmatism; and common development. This period is characterized by both China and Africa concentrating on economic (agricultural assistance is a major content) rather than political development in the form of bilateral cooperation (China’s African Policy File, 2006). 3.3 Third phase: from 1989 to 2000
In 1989, Deng Xiaoping resigned as president of the Central Military Commission. Following this change, economic reform in China entered a new stage under the leadership of Jiang Zemin. The period from 1989 to 2000 can be described as a post-Cold War transitional phase. It was also a transitional phase in the Chinese domestic process that saw the establishment of a market economy (Zhang, 2013).
In 1992, the Fourteenth National Congress of the CPC was held. During this meeting, the CPC unified the party around a policy of development and understanding the need for economic reform and opening up. A clear objective of the reform was to establish a socialist market economic system. This decision was met with enthusiasm throughout the country. As China shifted from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy, so reform
spread to the price system, the commodity circulation system, the financial system, and to state-owned enterprises. And with the startup of this new system, agri-businesses earned a new developing opportunities. (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010).
Foreign aid is considered an important diplomatic tool. Since the 1990s, with the comprehensive promotion of economic reform in China, there have also been reforms to foreign assistance. In 1995, the State Council held a working meeting on foreign aid, at which the reform of a number of foreign aid measures was, agreed (Zhang, 2013):
1) To provide governmental assistance of long-term and low-interest loans through China Export-Import Bank to developing countries, including African countries, so that to expand foreign aid funding. 2) To promote competitive Chinese enterprises and recipient
companies to cooperate on aid projects according to international practice.
3) To implement combination of aid and investment to improve the Big Assistance Strategy with trade and project contracting, in order to expand the African market in the future.
In 1996, Chairman Jiang Zemin visited Africa, and he put forward five suggestions that would form the basis of long-term and comprehensive cooperation for the Sino-Africa relationship: sincere friendship, equality, solidarity and cooperation, common development, and facing the future together. These five points show China’s commitment to ongoing provision of economic aid (with agricultural extension and food assistance as key contents) without any political conditions and to carry out various forms of mutually beneficial cooperation, including increasing imports from Africa (Zhang, 2012). During this period, the most important innovation of Chinese foreign policy towards Africa was to combine economic assistance and mutually beneficial cooperation. Moreover, the notion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation emerged in this period.
3.4 Fourth phase: from 2000 until now
Since the year 2000, China-Africa development cooperation has moved to a new level with the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum. This is a phase of comprehensive cooperation. In 2006, China presented the first version of The Document of China’s Policy to Africa. This document
aims to promote the long-term stable development of China-Africa relations and take mutually beneficial China-Africa cooperation to a new level. In 2015, the Chinese government announced China’s Policy towards Africa Files in Johannesburg for the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China-Africa Cooperation Forum. This document is considered as guidance for future Sino-African cooperation in accordance with the Chinese government.
During this period, agricultural assistance and cooperation became an important focus Sino-Africa cooperation, as detailed in China’s Foreign Aid White Paper 2014, recent conferences and documents related to the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.
In the Cooperation Agenda of China-Africa Economic and Social Development (2000), China and Africa agree on the significance of agricultural development to end poverty and ensure food security. In the agreement, the ministers determined to take all necessary measures to ensure the smooth development of cooperation in the field. The two sides also agreed to further explore the effective ways of tripartite cooperation between China, African countries, the FAO and other relevant international institutions.
The 2nd Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation—Addis Ababa Action Plan (2004-2006) reiterates China and Africa’s shared view on the importance of developing agriculture to ensure African food security, get rid of poverty, and improve people’s living standards. It acknowledges the importance of exchanging development experiences and promoting African economic development by strengthening agricultural cooperation between the two sides. This, in turn, was a catalyst for the follow-up activities of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, including the development of agriculture to strengthen African food security and increase African exports to China and other markets.
In addition, new measures emerged from the agricultural sectors in both countries, including increased exchange and exploring of opportunities for agriculture cooperation. China and Africa sought to strengthen their cooperation in agricultural technologies and the training of personnel. China also continued to support and encourage powerful Chinese enterprises to carry out agricultural cooperation projects in Africa with financial incentives and other preferential policies.
The Third Ministerial Conference in Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation—Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009) restated China’s and Africa’s belief that cooperation should focus on the important status of agriculture in each of the national economies, recognizing its active role in eliminating poverty, promoting development, and ensuring food security for both sides. China and Africa agreed to strengthen their exchange and cooperation in the fields of farming, animal husbandry, irrigation, fisheries, agricultural machinery, agricultural products processing, food safety, and animal and plant health and disease prevention, etc.. They also committed to actively exploring new forms and new ways to develop agricultural cooperation.
At this conference, China also agreed to: (1) send 100 senior agricultural experts to Africa and establish 10 special agricultural technology demonstration centres in Africa. (2) Encourage and support Chinese enterprises to expand their investment in African agriculture and to further participate in the construction of African agricultural infrastructure, agricultural production, and agro-industry. (3) Strengthen the cooperation with Africa in the areas of practical agricultural technology and agricultural human resource development.
At the 4th Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation—Sharm El Sheikh Action Plan (2010-2012), China and Africa announced a policy of growth-centred agricultural planning, aimed at improving the level of agricultural production and carried out under the framework of “the Comprehensive Development Program of African Agriculture.” Both sides pledged to maintain and strengthen China-Africa cooperation in agriculture, in particular by expanding cooperation in the fields of agricultural infrastructure construction, food production, aquaculture, the exchange and transfer of practical agricultural technology, the processing, storage and transportation of agricultural products, etc.
In addition, China determined to: (1) send 50 agricultural technology groups to African countries to help train 2000 African agricultural technicians in the next three years. (2) Increase the number of agricultural technology demonstration centres to 20. (3) Continue to run the agricultural technology demonstration centres, which have already been established to assist Africa and carry out testing, demonstrating, and training of technicians on the breeding of crop varieties, aquaculture, cultivation, and other aspects of agriculture at each centre. (4) Make the donation of $30 million to the
FAO to establish a trust fund and actively use the fund to support China in developing the South-South cooperation with African countries under the framework of the SPFS of FAO.
At the 5th Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation—Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015), both China and Africa acknowledged the particular challenges for African countries in term of food security and stressed that agricultural development is crucial for securing nutrition on the continent. The two sides decided to continue to prioritize agriculture and food security in their cooperation and also commended the progress of African countries in terms of implementing a growth-oriented agricultural agenda under the framework of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP).
China and Africa also pledged to engage in agricultural cooperation and exchanges at multiple levels, through multiple channels and in various forms. Efforts would be made to continue to support and help Africa improve its agricultural production, strengthen Africa’s capability to ensure food security, and expand cooperation between the two sides in the form of technical exchanges and human resource training in agriculture, agricultural development plan and system building, agricultural processing, and promotion of agricultural machinery to create a favourable environment for African countries to realize long-term food security supported by national agricultural production and processing.
China documented these commitments in The Document of China’s Policy to Africa, which was announced in 2006. It focused on three aspects, the first one is strengthening cooperation in the areas of land development, farming, farming techniques, food security, agricultural machinery, agricultural processing, etc. The second one is increasing cooperation of agricultural technology, actively carrying out training of practical agricultural technology, and then establishing an agricultural technology pilot demonstration in Africa. The last one is accelerating the plan of agricultural cooperation between China-Africa.
4. China’s policies on development aid to Africa: with a special focus on agriculture
The key policy documents with respect to Sino-African cooperation are China’s Foreign Aid Policy (2011), China’s Foreign Aid Policy (2014),
China’s African Policy File (2006), and China’s African Policy File (2015). In July 2014, China announced a new white paper of China’s Foreign Policy, which updated and extended the white paper presented in 2011. Having examined China’s African policy and Chinese foreign policy, this section provides a comparative analysis of China’s Foreign Aid Policy (2011 and 2014) and China’s African Policy files (2006), with a view to understanding China’s policy goals with respect to Africa and the characteristics of these policies. As mentioned, special attention will be paid to the agricultural field. Table 3-1 provides a comparation between the contents of China’s 2011 and 2014 white papers on foreign aid. It is clear from this table that even though there are some differences in the size and format of the contents, the 2014 white paper is an updated and improved version of the 2011 document. To gain a complete understanding of China’s foreign assistance policy in the context of agriculture, it is necessary to analyse these two white papers closely.
Table 3-2 presents an overview of the distribution of Chinese foreign assistance funds by global region. It is clear that, not only in 2009, but also in the 2010~2012 period, African countries received around half of the total Chinese foreign aid funds. Compared with 2009, the Chinese financial aid to Africa increased in the 2010~2012 phase. This table confirms that Africa continues to be a major focus of Chinese foreign assistance.
In the White Paper (2013:9-11) on economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa, there is a whole chapter about the importance of strengthening cooperation between China and Africa in the area of agriculture and food security. Agriculture is the basic industry in most African countries and, as previously mentioned, closely related to poverty reduction and food security. The trade of agricultural products between China and Africa is rapidly increasing. From 2009 to 2012, exports of agricultural products from China to Africa rose from 1.58 billion dollars to 2.49 billion dollars, and imports of agricultural products from China to Africa increased from 1.16 billion dollars to 2.86 billion dollars.
From 2009 to 2012, Chinese direct investment in agriculture in Africa increased from 30 million dollars to 82.47 million dollars (White Paper, 2013:3). In addition, in this period China began building agricultural demonstration centres, sending senior agricultural experts and agricultural
Table3-1 Comparation between China’s Foreign Aid Policy in 2011 and 2014 (Data resource: China’s Foreign Aid White Paper 2011 and 2014)
Region
Time
Africa Asia Latin
America and the
Caribbean
Oceania Europe Others
2009 45.7% 32.8% 12.7% 4.0% 0.3% 4.5%
2010~2012 51.8% 30.5% 8.4% 4.2% 1.7% 3.4%
Table 3-2 Distribution of China's foreign aid funds (by global regions) (Data resource: China’s Foreign Aid White Paper 2011:18 and 2014:3)
Name Time of Announcement Main Contents China’s Foreign Policy White Paper (2011)
April 2011 Six main elements: China’s foreign aid
policy; funds for foreign aid; foreign aid methods; distribution of China's foreign aid; management of Chinese foreign aid; international cooperation in the form of foreign assistance.
China’s Foreign
Policy White
Paper (2014)
July 2014 Five main elements: the steady development
of Chinese foreign aid; Chinese foreign aid to promote improved livelihoods in other developing countries; promotion of economic and social development in other developing countries; external cooperation under regional cooperation mechanisms; participation in international communication and cooperation.
technicians, extending experiences of agricultural production and management, teaching the use of technology and other ways to help African countries to improve agricultural self-development (Li, Qi, Tang, 2010). This reaffirms agriculture as a core element in Chinese foreign policy to Africa.
In China’s Foreign Aid White Paper (2011), the government promised to build 30 agricultural demonstration centres in five years in developing countries. The Foreign Aid White Paper 2014 established the construction of agricultural demonstration centres as an important platform for Chinese foreign assistance. China’s policy documents with respect to Africa present a commitment to increasing agricultural technical cooperation and to actively carrying out practical technical training. This, in combination with the setting up of agricultural technology pilot demonstration projects, forms the core of agricultural development cooperation between China and Africa.
In the White Paper (2013) on economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa, China confirms that 15 agricultural technology demonstration centres have already been built in African countries since 2006. All these policy documents and data demonstrate the role of agricultural technology demonstration centres in the implementation of Chinese foreign assistance towards African countries.
The 2006 China’s African policy file (Appendix 1) was first announced in Beijing, nine years after the 15th anniversary of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum. The Chinese government announced a new African policy document (Appendix 2) in Johannesburg, South Africa. A comparison of the main contents of the two documents allows us to draw a number of conclusions about their characteristics. First, the 2015 file is not a totally new policy with respect to Sino-African development cooperation; it is an updated policy file based on an evaluation of the implementation of the previous version. Second, in the section of the document focused on economic development cooperation, the new document states a commitment to boosting African industrialization. Third, the economic cooperation section of barely mentioned in the 2006 version.
Moreover, the 2015 policy reiterates the need to share and extend both countries’ experiences in the area of poverty reduction. 15 The section of
15
This is No. 4 in the ‘Strengthening Sino-African Development Cooperation’ section of the document.
agricultural development also restates the extension of agricultural technology as an important means of improving the African agricultural industrial chain and, accordingly, China will continue to help Africa build agricultural demonstration projects. The phrase according to local conditions is mentioned repeatedly in the new document , while it is rarely found in the 2006 policy. This is a signal that the Chinese government is paying more attention to local people’s participation in and evaluation of China-Africa cooperation programmes. Based on these six changes in policy, China-Africa economic cooperation will take the lead in the future bilateral foreign relationship, and technology has a key role in the African industrial chain and Sino-African collaboration programmes.
A comparison of these key policy documents from the last decade in respect of China’s foreign assistance strategy, reveals the following characteristics: first, these policies are coherent and closely related to each other; the relationship with Africa is a major part of China’s foreign assistance policy; the economic aspects of the Sino-African relationship are growing; agricultural cooperation plays an important role in Chinese policy towards Africa; and a key focus of China’s African policy is the implementation of agricultural technology demonstration centres.
It is important to examine the system that implements Chinese foreign assistance and economic cooperation in any analysis of China’s foreign policy towards Africa. As China’s economic, political and international relationship changes, so Chinese foreign aid agencies and system have been developed and reformed. The change in direction of the Chinese foreign aid system can be summarized as follows: firstly, multi-agency, multi-sectoral coordination and integrated management have taken the place of a single management channel; secondly, legalized and standardized operations have gradually replaced a simple administrative management mechanism (Zhang, 2012).
Chinese foreign affairs agencies have been through a series of changes and reforms. The original agency of Chinese foreign affairs was the Central People’s Government Foreign Trade Department. In the 1950s, the division of foreign affairs was simple: aid projects were dealt with by the National Planning Commission and the Foreign Trade Department, and the Ministry of Finance was directly responsible for funding assistance. In 1960, the Chinese central government set up the Joint Administration of Foreign
Economics to coordinate the management of foreign economic and technical assistance (Zhang, 2013).
Subsequently, as changes to its foreign aid missions took place, the Chinese government made several changes and created a coordinated management mechanism. In 1964, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee decided to establish a Liaison Committee of Foreign Economic Relations and revoke the Joint Administration of Foreign Economics. In 1970, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council decided to change the Foreign Liaison Committee into the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations. In 1982, National People's Congress (NPC) decided to merge the State Import and Export Management Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Foreign Investment Commission, and establish the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. In 1993, the NPC renamed the Foreign Economic and Trade Ministry as the Ministry of Foreign Economic Cooperation. A decade later, in 2003, the NPC established a Ministry of Commerce, a department consisting of the Chinese State Council and put in charge of domestic and foreign trade and international economic cooperation.16
Brautigam (2009) presents this system, (as shown in Figure 3-1), in her research and indicates that it is the method that China uses to implement foreign assistance to African countries. China’s foreign assistance is under control of the State Council. There are four key departments in the Chinese foreign assistance system: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and the Export-Import Bank of China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the political issues of China-Africa cooperation and the bilateral relationship. The major task of the Ministry of Commerce is handling the commercial affairs of Chinese investments to Africa, including the relevant import and export businesses. The Ministry of Finance also has responsibilities for foreign assistance
16See History of Ministry of Commerce,
http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/mofcom/yange.shtml , accessed on: 2015-11-19. This website includes a detailed introduction to how the Chinese Ministry of Commerce was constructed and its history. This paragraph is a brief summary of this article and designed to provide readers with more detail about Chinese foreign aid agencies.
towards Africa and, since 2000; the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) has held a core position in the Chinese Out-going Strategy.
The main responsibilities of the China Exim Bank are: to implement the national industrial policy, foreign trade policy, monetary policy and foreign policy; to expand the trade of Chinese electro mechanical products, equipment and high-tech exports; to promote enterprises that can develop opportunities for foreign contracted projects and overseas investment and promote the development of foreign relations, international trade and economic cooperation; and to provide financial support for policy (Zhang, 2013). Moss and Rose (2006) point out that the China Exim Bank plays a key role in China-Africa development cooperation and as well as working to improve trade and investment between the two partners, it also plays a part in enhancing China’s global influence. Brautigam (2009) mentions that, until 2007, the Export-Import Bank of China was the world's largest export credit agency.
5. Affecting factors and neorealist analysis on China’s foreign policy towards Africa
5.1 The affecting elements of China’s foreign policy to Africa
There have been numerous discussions on the Chinese policy towards Africa and the leading factors that have influenced the changing trajectory of China’s African policy since the 1950s. Some points of views suggest that the change in China’s African policy is based on the shift in Chinese national interests and the need to ensure that China remains the main beneficiary of this relationship. On the other hand, alternative perspectives indicate that China’s African policy and its implementation is based on mutual benefits for both China and Africa.
Firstly, I will examine those discussions and debates that centre on the leading factors that influence the Chinese African policy. Yu (1988) posits that the main factor behind China’s Africa policy is the important function of Africa in China’s global role. Muekalia (2004) indicates that China’s Africa policy has changed since 1955 and that, in recent decades, the main element in China-Africa relations is China considering Africa as a partner for achieving Beijing’s long-term development strategy goals.
Figure 3-1: The system of China foreign assistance and economy cooperation (Brautigam, 2009：86)
Alden (2005) indicates that resource security is a main factor for China’s growing cooperation with Africa, and emphasizes growing concerns about food security. Wenping (2007) thinks that the driving force behind the changing track of Chinese-African policy has shifted from political elements to the requirements of sustainable development. Additionally, Anshan (2007) demonstrates that the main factor is China’s principle of non-interference and that China’s foreign assistance to Africa underpins China’s own sovereign rights.
In 2008, Alden and Alves (2008) argued that national interests led to the change in China’s Africa policy, which now not only reflect China’s region-specific concerns, but also its wider international goals. Thus, the main reason for China’s policy change towards Africa is the change in Chinese domestic policy, i.e. a shift from political construction to economic development.
As previously mentioned, the discussions and debates also focus on the mutual benefits of China-Africa relations and China’s Africa policy.
Perspectives are divided on this point. On the one hand, some scholars take the view that the major beneficiary in the China-Africa cooperation is China. Tull (2006), for example, indicates that China’s assistance to Africa ignores recipient countries’ economic development and floods the African market with cheap manufactured goods. In addition, China is seen as offering benefit-leading and resource-leading foreign aid to African countries, this has been criticized for being a kind of neocolonialism. Eigen (2012) indicates that critics call China’s strategy towards Africa self-promotional, its main goal being to get access to Africa’s mineral resources.
However, there are also scholars who believe that the China-Africa development cooperation and Chinese African policy is mutually beneficial. Muekalia (2004) points out that the Chinese development assistance to African countries comes free of political conditions or other requirements, and this is welcomed by leaders in Africa. Anshan (2007) shows how China-Africa cooperation has played a positive and important role in the African continent; additionally, China remains committed to a Sino-African relationship characterized by the principals of equality, respect and mutual development. Ukaejiofo (2014) indicates that China’s engagements and investments in Africa’s agricultural development come in several forms of developmental partnership. He also reports that local stakeholders speak positively of China’s efforts in terms of alleviating poverty in Africa and appreciate their different approach in comparison to traditional donors.
Additionally, Brautigam and Tang (2012) posit that China’s strategy of long-term agricultural engagement abroad, in terms of foreign assistance, foreign investment, and various forms of development cooperation, can improve global agricultural outputs. Bangui (2012) indicates that the Chinese-African cooperation model differs from the Western model and this is a great opportunity for African development. I see, then, that there are different views on China’s foreign policy toward Africa and that, although there are some scholars who view China’s Africa policy as being a China-centred innovation, the majority believe that, it is a win-win strategy for both partners not only politically, but also economically.
5.2 Neorealist analysis on China’s foreign policy towards Africa
From the Neorealist perspective, a large or powerful country takes a leading role in an international relationship its foreign policy mainly concentrates on national interests. However, while Realists highlight the political elements of
the international system, Neorealists argue that the realities of international relations can only be comprehensively reflected by combining political relations with economic relations (Keohane, 2005). As China has been rising as a global power, many critics take a neorealist view and suggest that China’s development cooperation with African countries is due to China’s need for natural resources (Foster, 2008; Eigen, 2012). Moreover, from this perspective, China’s increasing interests in agricultural cooperation with Africa are seen as a kind of ‘Land grabbing’ (Hofman and Ho, 2012) and China is viewed as a ‘neocolonial power’(Adem, 2010).
In contrast, others argue that Sino-Africa cooperation is a ‘win-win’ scenario (He, 2007; Zhang, 2013). A leading exponent of this view, Robert Gilpin, suggests that there are two key elements in the international political economy: a dual economy and the modern world-system. International political economy stresses that the world is a big system; the states in the system are organically linked and act in accordance with certain economic laws. The task of international political economy is to study the nature, structure, function, power and regular pattern of political economical relationships, with a focus on the economic activities that are determined by human behaviour. This perspective also sees the conflict areas of the global economy as being more important than the political conflicts that arise between nations(Gilpin & Gilpin,1987; Gilpin, 2011). This is an alternative explanation for the growing development cooperation between China and Africa.
As the main representative of Neorealism or Structural realism, Waltz thinks that international power is greater than personal power. His theory puts nations, not humans, at the centre (Waltz, 2001, pp.16-41). The rise of the Sino-African relationship is a significant change in the distribution of international power and global politics; however, China’s foreign policy towards Africa, especially in the agricultural field, is all about humans. No matter how many agricultural investments are made or how much technology is transferred, they are all about making positive changes to the lives of local residents in Africa. Thus, this study argues that a nation’s development is inextricably linked to human development.
Later, Waltz demonstrates that the international community is constructed from two major relationships: system and units, and structures and processes. The structure of the system depends on the principles that construct the system, and system change with these principles varies. The
structure of system is based on its functions; if the functions change, the structure also changes; The structure of the system is determined by the ability of the various allocations in the systems, i.e. capacity allocation changes will certainly lead to changes in the system architecture (Waltz, 2010, pp. 79-101). Therefore, in the anarchic international political system, the big countries, who get the largest portion of capacity allocation, determine the international system.
While China and Africa remain developing countries, and therefore, according to Waltz, get much less capacity allocation than their powerful counterparts, such as the US, EU, etc, the Sino-African relationship cannot have much influence on the international system. Nevertheless, the world’s eyes are focusing on the China-Africa relationship, with some talking of ‘China’s rising power in Africa’ (Alden, Large, Soares de Oliveira, 2008). This would suggest that the neorealist view of powerful countries determining the world political system is not accurate. Hence, as in the Sino-African relationship case, this study argues that there may be a need to add some content to the Neorealist view: i.e. even the smallest units of the structure can have the ability to make a change to the system, and therefore they should not be neglected. Moreover, especially in the globalization era, economic elements have taken a leading position in international relations. 6. Conclusion
The above discussions reveal that different countries’ policies towards Africa have different characteristics. Moreover, in the Chinese case, the Chinese policies towards Africa had different characteristics in different phases, based on the national strategy of China during these specific periods. For example, the period from 2000 until now is a comprehensive developmental phase in the China-Africa relationship with economic elements playing a key role, especially since the government announced its new African Policy in 2015. This document, a guide to future bilateral development cooperation programmes, reiterates the need for a sustainable industrial chain and an approach that is in accordance with local conditions.
Additionally, as the Sino-Africa development cooperation continues, agriculture plays an increasingly important role. For instance, in December 2015, the tenth year of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, Chairman Xi Jinping’s paid his first visit to Zimbabwe and made a state visit to South Africa. These national visits are aimed at promoting bilateral exchanges and
