China’s soft power in Africa: From the ‘Beijing Consensus’ to health diplomacy
Author: Drew Thompson
Date: 2005
China’s relations with Africa have steadily deepened and strengthened since the founding of “new China” in 1949. Evolving from ideologically-driven interactions during the Cold War, today’s China-Africa relations combine pragmatic economic and political means to achieve China’s objective of establishing a world order that is peaceful and conducive to continued economic growth and stability at home. In the 1960s and 1970s, China supported liberation movements in several African countries, gave aid to socialist nations to build stadiums, hospitals, railroads and other infrastructure, and cemented relations through a steady stream of expert engineers, teachers, and doctors. Today, Chinese officials travel to Africa accompanied by bankers and businesspeople, promoting political and economic commerce that expands China-Africa ties in a sustainable fashion. While trade and diplomacy are driven by China’s newfound economic strength and subsequent demand for raw materials, China continues to support longstanding programs that deliver aid to underserved African citizens, such as sending teams of doctors and providing medicines. Following the framework set out by the first China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2000, China-Africa relations are set to advance through a combination of traditional financial aid and technical support programs, along with rapidly growing bilateral trade and investment.
Related resources
EU Strategy for Africa
14 Aug, 2014
The Clash of Globalizations: Essays on the Political Economy of Trade and Development Policy
15 Aug, 2013
Knowledge management and change in international organisations: Learning from the private sector
10 Aug, 2002
Development Aid and Nigeria’s Poverty Challenge: Millenium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Focus
12 Aug, 2009
Re-imagining the future
11 Aug, 2011
The Environmental Movement in the Global South
11 Aug, 2007
Development diplomacy by non-state actors
19 Apr, 2006
Achieving Zero Hunger: The Critical Role of Investments in Social Protection and Agriculture
04 Aug, 2015
Triangular Co-operation and Aid Effectiveness: Can triangular co-operation make aid more effective?
14 Aug, 2009
Understanding the Digital Divide
01 May, 2001
The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations
08 Aug, 2008
DAC High Level Meeting: Final Communiqué
16 Dec, 2014
The road to dignity by 2030: ending poverty, transforming all lives and protecting the planet
06 Aug, 2014
Current developments in South African diplomacy
14 Aug, 1998
The European Union and the Latin American and the Caribbean Dialogue: Building a Strong Partnership
14 Aug, 2008
Caribbean Development Report, Volume I
21 Dec, 2007
The Education Millennium Development Goal Beyond 2015: Prospect for Quality and Learners
14 Aug, 2009
Special Ministerial Event on Food Security and Sustainble Development in Small Island Developing States
12 Aug, 2005
Why modernise official development assistance?
21 Aug, 2015
Development Effectiveness: What Have We Learnt?
13 Aug, 2004
Enyclopedia of International Development
13 Aug, 2004
Promoting e-Commerce in developing countries
09 Aug, 2007
Modern Diplomacy – Opening address
14 Aug, 1998
New’ Actors and Global Development Cooperation
04 Aug, 2011
Conditionality in development aid policy
19 Apr, 2006
Developing Countries: Victims or Participants? Their Changing Role in International Negotiations
15 Aug, 2003
The network neutrality debate and development
10 Aug, 2007
Knowledge and Diplomacy
23 Aug, 2002
Securing the Future of Multilateral Development Finance: Time for Europe to take the Initiative
21 Aug, 2014
Report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing
14 Aug, 2014
Uncertain Times
20 Aug, 2015
Economic Geography and International Inequality
10 Aug, 2001
The Milennium Development Goals Report 2015
01 Aug, 2015
Diplomacy and Developing Nations: Post-Cold War foreign policy-making structures and processes
15 Aug, 2009