China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace

by Chris Alden (Editor), Ricardo Soares de Oliveira

Chinese-African relations became an issue of increasing importance leading up to the 2006 China-Africa Summit in Beijing. Nevertheless, academics and policymakers have largely neglected China's expanding relationship with Africa. Scholars have yet to explore the concrete ways in which Chinese actors operate in different parts of Africa, and developmental policy advisors have yet to take the political dynamics and implications of this involvement into consideration when forming policy. China Returns to Africa addresses key issues in contemporary Chinese-African relations, examining the impact of this relationship in issues of diplomacy, trade, and development. Beginning with the assertion that China is engaged in a scramble for Africa and that we are now on the brink of a new Chinese imperialism, the essays in this volume transcend narrow, media-driven concerns and offer one of the first far-ranging surveys of the consequences of China's investment in Africa.

Genres: History, Africa

400 pages, Hardcover

First published July 22, 2008

About the author

Chris Alden is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at the LSE. He has researched and published on Asian-African relations for over fifteen years. He has previously taught at the University of Witwatersrand, and held research fellowships at the University of Tokyo, the Ecole Normale Superieure and the University of Cambridge.

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting political commentary and economic data on Africa, China, and their relationships.

[Samy]

p. 190