Sino-African relations

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Sino-African relations refers to the connections between China and Africa. These began with the voyages made by Chinese admiral Zheng He and his fleet during the Ming Dynasty, coming upon the Horn of Africa and following the coast down to the Mozambique Channel. The goal of those expeditions was to spread Chinese culture by bringing gifts and granting titles from the Ming emperor to the local rulers, establishing a broad tribute ­paying circle.^[1]

In recent years, the People's Republic of China has built increasingly stronger ties with various African nations. Trade between China and African nations has increased 700% during the 1990s.^[2] China is currently Africa's third largest trading partner, after the United States and former colonial power France.

Contents 1 Historical relationships 2 Background 3 Trade 4 Events 5 See also 6 References and Notes 7 External links

[edit] Historical relationships

The first mention of Africa in Chinese Sources was in the Yu-yang-tsa-tsu by Tuan Ch'eng-shih (died 863 A.D.), a compendium of general knowledge. In this he writes about the "land of Po-pa-li", which refers to Somalia. In 1226 A.D. Chao Ju-kua, commissioner of foreign trade at Quanzhou in the Fujian province of China, completed his Chu-fan-chih (Description of Barbarous Peoples). It discusses Zanzibar (Ts'ong-pa) and Somalia (Pi-P'a-Lo) (Freeman-Grenville 1975).

[edit] Background

The establishment of modern Sino-African relations dates back to the 1960s when Zhou Enlai made a ten-country tour between December 1963 and January 1964 to Africa.

China relied on several principles, among them supporting the independence of African countries while investing in infrastructural projects. During the Cold War a few smaller nations entered in alliances with China, such as Burundi under Michel Micombero.

Since 1997, around 30 African heads of state have visited China. The ministerial meeting ("China-Africa Cooperation Forum") held in Beijing in October 2000 was the first collective dialogue between China and African countries.

[edit] Trade

In 1999, the total Sino-African trade volume was US$6.5 billion^[3] However, by 2005, total Sino-African trade had reached US$39.7 billion and is expected to reach US$50 billion by 2006, making China today one of the top three largest trading partners of Africa.^[4]

[edit] Events

• On December 24, 1988 two male African students were entering their campus at Hohai University in Nanjing with two Chinese women. The occasion was a Christmas Eve party. A quarrel about correct identification between one of the Africans and a Chinese security guard, who had ordered the Africans to register their guests, led to a brawl between the African and Chinese students on the campus which lasted till the morning, leaving 13 students injured. (See Nanjing anti-African protests)

• On August 6, 2006, Chad changed its recognition of the Republic of China to the PRC.^[5]

• In the early to mid 2000s, Chinese investors and state agencies spent billions on roadbuilding in Kenya, a hydroelectric dam in Ghana and a mobile phone network in Ethiopia. Nigeria, where China has been snapping up oil assets, has a Mandarin-language newspaper (West African United Business Daily) serving 50,000 readers — a community greater in number than the British ever were, even at the height of British colonial rule in Nigeria.^[6] In this exchange, China is picking up natural resources — oil, precious minerals — to feed its expanding economy and new markets for its burgeoning enterprises. In 2005, two-way trade had increased to $42 billion.^[7]

• On November 3, 2006, China hosted a Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing with the leaders of 48 African countries designed to cement its economic and political influence in the continent. Over 2000 business were being negotiated at the time. At the opening of the summit, President Hu Jintao stated China would offer $3 billion in preferential loans and $2 billion in export credits over the next three years. China announced that it would double its foreign aid though it did not offer details.^[7]

• In early February 2007, President Hu Jintao completed an eight-country tour of Africa.^[8] The countries visited were Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles.^[9]

[edit] See also

• List of People's Republic of China diplomatic missions
• Japanese foreign policy on Africa

[edit] References and Notes

• Freeman-Grenville, G.P.S. (ed.) 1975: The East African Coast. Select Documents form the first to the earlier nineteenth century. London: Rex Collings.

[edit] External links

• China-Africa Cooperation Forum
• IV. AFRICA, chapter in Human Rights Watch report on PRC activities in Africa, 1997
• Sino-African relations, Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe, 16 August 2004
• Goldstein et al., The Rise of China and India - What's in it for Africa, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, May 2006
• Fairly looking upon Sino-African relations, People's Daily, 16 May 2006
• China defends its African relations, BBC News, 26 June 2006
• Wolfowitz criticizes China over Africa lending, Yahoo! News, 23 October 2006

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