From Aid to Cooperation

China seeks to enhance ties with Africa as the West pulls back By Yu Lintao

From Aid to Cooperation

China seeks to enhance ties with Africa as the West pulls back By Yu Lintao

The Chinese-funded Africa Union(AU) headquarters complex in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia serves as a strong testament to China’s renewed commitment to the resource-rich continent, analysts said.

“China and African countries enjoy a long history of profound traditional friendship. The AU headquarters project will be another icon for this friendship. It also indicates that China wants to contribute more to African development through the multilateral platform of the AU,” said Xu Weizhong,Deputy Director of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The 20-story of fi ce block, which opened on January 28, is the tallest building in Addis Ababa. It consists of two main buildings—a tower housing of fi ces with a capacity of 700 and a conference center equipped with facilities for top-level meetings. It is the largest grant project from China to Africa after the Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the 1970s.

A win-win practice

“Traditionally, the United States and European countries are the major aid sources for Africa. However, the fi nancial crisis in those countries not only cut their foreign aid budgets, but also severely impacted North African countries with an excessive economic dependence on the West,”said He Wenping, a research fellow with the Institute of Western Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “The troubled economy of the West is partly the cause of the turmoil in North African countries last year.”

“Under these circumstances, many African countries have turned their eyes to the East,seeking enhanced ties with newly emerging countries, especially China,” she added.

At the inauguration of the new AU headquarters complex, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the project depicts Africa’s rise and bright future and that the great hall is meant to convey the message of optimism and a new era of hope.

“China, its amazing re-emergence and its commitment to a win-win partnership with Africa, is one of the reasons for the beginning of the African renaissance,” Meles said.

MAGNIFICENCE: The new AU headquarters complex in Addis Ababa,the capital of Ethiopia

The project, with a total cost of $200 million, was completed within three years following the hard work of 1,200 Chinese and Ethiopian workers. The office complex stands at 99.9 meters high, a symbolic height that refers to the founding date of the AU on September 9, 1999 and has a floor area of nearly 52,000 square meters.

“China’s assistance to Africa is a win-win practice. Economic relations between China and Africa focus on four aspects: trade, investment, aid and project contracting. The four integrate with each other and promote one another. China’s assistance not only promotes economic ties between China and Africa, but will also bene fi t the economic restructuring and future development of China,” said Xu.

With the continuing enhancement of economic strength in recent decades, many Chinese enterprises have sought to establish an international presence in keeping with a“going global” strategy. However, they often run into a stone wall when they invest in Western countries partly because of ideological hang-ups. Therefore, African countries have become important destinations for investment of Chinese enterprises.

In addition, the complementary nature of their economic ties offers the two sides broad prospects for cooperation, said He Wenping.

African countries are rich in raw materials and resources while they are urgently in need of light industrial products and other manufactured goods. In the meantime, China’s economic restructuring requires industrial transfer. Chinese enterprises’ investment in Africa not only helps China’s industrial upgrading but also helps promote employment and reduce poverty in African countries, she said.

Compared with aid from Western countries, which often has harsh political requirements attached, assistance and investment from China is more welcome, said Xu.

“Many African scholars and officials hold that the relationship between China and Africa is not based on aid but on trade and development. They believe investment and trade are more helpful in promoting the development of the African continent,” Xu said.

Key areas

China’s aid and investment have helped African countries enhance their abilities to pursue development on their own, He Wenping said. Aid that improves the livelihoods of African people has been given particular emphasis, including building schools, hospitals,roads, bridges and water supply systems.

INAUGURATION: Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, hands over a symbolic key to Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, AU Chairman and President of Equatorial Guinea, during the inauguration ceremony of the new AU headquarters complex in Addis Ababa on January 28

Historically, China paid much attention to assisting Africa’s infrastructure construction efforts. The Chinese-funded Tanzania-Zambia Railway played a big role in the economic development of the continent. Rapid economic growth in Africa in the past decade is partly attributable to the improvement of its infrastructure thanks to Chinese builders.

“Infrastructure construction will still be the focus of China’s assistance to the African continent in the future,” He said.

The Declaration on the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa adopted at the recent 18th AU Summit also emphasized the vital role of infrastructure in its overall development and called for speeding up the continent’s infrastructure development.

The AU headquarters project is one of the eight measures of the Chinese Government to strengthen cooperation with Africa announced by President Hu Jintao at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006. It shows China’s strong support to the AU’s efforts to promote African integration and development, He said.

Cooperation in agriculture and other fi elds has also been strengthened in recent years.Food security problems have always been a major cause of social turmoil on the continent. Helping African countries increase food production is an ef fi cient way to keep Africa stable, said He Wenping.

Cooperation on hi-tech projects between China and Africa is also on the rise. Rwanda is planning to become the information center for East Africa. Chinese telecom device provider Huawei has participated in upgrading its telecom system, and Huawei is gaining an increasing share in the African telecom market.

So far, China has an investment volume of $13 billion in Africa with more than 2,000 Chinese enterprises investing extensively in fields such as electronics, communications,transportation and finance. Investment from China has effectively boosted Africa’s industrialization and modernization. China is also the largest trade partner of Africa with trade exceeding $150 billion, a 13-fold increase since 2000.