China and Africa Development Relations

China is among a number of large developing country or new powers on the ascendance in the international system, all of which are deepening their economic relations with Africa However, China is the largest and most powerful of this group. it has sought closer economic relationships with other developing country regions and continents such as Latin America and Central Asia, but it is with Africa — the continent that hosts more developing countries than any other — that China has fostered the closest links.

This book provides an overview of how the China — Africa relationship has evolved over the last few decades and examines whether it presents a new paradigm of ‘development relations’ in the international system. The contributors investigate what is particularly special about the emerging development partnership between Africa and China, and how it may evolve in the future. The contributors focus on various development capacity issues — infrastructural, industrial, technocratic, institutional, human capital, sustainable economic practices — and consider various debates on ‘development’ and development ideologies, including whether China’s practices in Africa pose a challenge to Western conventions on development assistance.

China-Africa Development Relations will be of interest to those students and scholars of African studies, Chinese studies, international development and development studies.

Christopher M. Dent is a Professor in East Asia's International Political Economy at the University of Leeds, UK.