Chinese in Africa explores the complexities of identities and forms in which the Chinese Migrants in Africa express their ‘Chineseness’. In its study of the Chinese diaspora in Africa, the book eschews tendencies to compound the Chinese by showing their distinctiveness in terms of history, culture, identity, and adaptation mechanisms. It pushes beyond the boundaries of ethnic and cultural homogenisation based on a perceived ‘Chinese’ physiognomy. The diversity and hybridity of the Chinese identity and expressions of Chineseness explored in this book’s seven chapters is essential to making sense of the historical and contemporary people to people engagements in Africa-China relations. The book brings together scholars from international relations, political science, sociology and area studies and draws from their field research and expertise in China and several African countries. A multidisciplinary volume, Chinese in Africa will be invaluable to scholars, students and policymakers interested in identities, and expressions of those identities. The chapters originally published as a special issue of Asian Ethnicity.

Any book on Africa-China relations which steers away from hegemonic western perspectives and paradigms is welcome. This is one such book. Issa G. Shivji, Mwalimu Nyerere Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Dar es Salaam --

Examines Chinese engagement with African nations, focusing on (1) Chinese and African objectives in the political and economic spheres and how they work to achieve them, (2) African perceptions of Chinese engagement, (3) how China has adjusted its policies to accommodate African views, and (4) whether the United States and China are competing for influence, access, and resources in Africa and how they might cooperate in the region.

The first English translation of part one of Anshan's seminal work explores early Chinese knowledge of and contacts with Africa through Chinese literature on Africa and current archeological evidence, suggesting Sino-African trade existed as early as the seventh century.

Trade between China and Africa is increasing year on year, while the West increasingly debates the nature and implications of China’s presence. Yet little research exists at the organizational and community levels. While western press reporting is overwhelmingly negative, African governments mostly welcome the Chinese presence. But what happens at the management level? How are Chinese organizations run? What are they bringing to communities? What is their impact on the local job market? How do they manage staff? How are they working with local firms? This book seeks to provide a theoretical framework for understanding Chinese organizations and management in Africa and to explore how their interventions are playing out at the organizational and community levels in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on rigorous empirical research exploring emerging themes in specific African countries, this book develops implications for management knowledge, education and training provision, and policy formulation. Importantly it seeks to inform future scholarship on China’s management impact in the world generally, on Africa’s future development, and on international and cross-cultural management scholarship. Primarily aimed at scholars of international management, with an interest in China and/or in China in Africa, this important book will also be of great interest to those working in the area of development studies, international politics, and international relations.

China leads the world when it comes to investment and influence on the African continent. The extent of Chinese investment in Africa is well known and much has been written about China’s foray into Africa. However, most of the available material has approached this issue by looking at China as the ’New Colonialist’ – more interested in Africa’s vast natural resources than working in partnership for sustained development. Whilst China’s interest in Africa’s resources is evident, it is just half of the story. China’s foray into Africa goes beyond its appetite for natural resources and into the realm of geo-politics and international political economics. For example, China is all too aware of how it can cultivate Africa’s support on global issues at the United Nations and at other international fora. Breaking free from the binary arguments and analysis which characterize this topic, Professor Abdulai presents a refreshing perspective that China’s foray into Africa can produce win–win outcomes for China and Africa – if Africans really know what they want from China. Hitherto, each African country has tended to engage China with an individual bucket list; acting in isolation and not as part of a wider continent (indeed Africa and the African Union does not yet have a coordinated policy towards China). For Africa to be able to do that it needs to know where China is coming from, the factors that contributed to its awakening and success, and the benefits and possible pitfalls of this foray, in order to better position itself for a win–win engagement with China. This book will be a valuable read for policy makers, think-tanks and students of Africa-China studies programmes alike.

China’s emergence in Africa is the most significant development for the continent since at least the end of the Cold War. Of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China is also the largest contributor in terms of troop numbers to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). While China’s potential to be a force for change in Africa is undeniable, there are wildly varied and sometimes unrealistic expectations in both the West and Africa of China’s role in Africa. A more detailed and nuanced understanding of Chinese motivations in its African engagement is necessary, in order to work effectively with China for African peace, security and development. With Liberia, Darfur and South Sudan as case studies, Kuo comprehensively examines the "Chinese peace" and places it within the context of the liberal peace debate. He does so using primary sources translated from the original Chinese, as well as interviews conducted in Mandarin with Chinese policymakers, academics, diplomats as well as Chinese company managers and businessmen working in Liberia and South Sudan. He also traces and analyses the Chinese discourse of peace, from traditional Chinese political philosophy, through Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping to post-reform and the Xi Jinping era.

China's recent stepping up of relations with Africa is one of the most significant developments on the African continent for decades. For some it promises an end to Africa's dependent aid relationships, as the Chinese bring expertise, technology and a stronger business focus. But for others it is no more than a new form of imperialism. This book is the first to systematically study the motivations, relationships and impact of this migration. It focuses not just on the Chinese migrants but also on the perceptions of, and linkages to, their African 'hosts'. By studying this everyday interaction we get a much richer picture of whether this is South-South cooperation, as political leaders would have us believe, or a more complex relationship that can both compromise and encourage African development.

This book explains why conflict exists among Chinese foreign-policy actors in Africa and argues against the concept that China has a grand strategy in relation to Africa. It does so by examining Sino-African relations by focusing on how China’s Africa policy is constructed and implemented concluding that a large number of actors are active in its formulation and implementation. The book argues that China’s Hegemonic Political Discourse (HPD), the goal of achieving a Harmonious Society and later the Chinese Dream through the Scientific Concept of Development, has dominated Chinese political discourse. It is this HPD that acts as the structural imperative that allows for collective action in the Chinese foreign-policy process in Africa rather than a Chinese grand strategy since the actors are unwilling to break the social norms of the collective process for fear of exclusion. This book will be of great interest to China watchers and those eager to understand how China's rise will impact the developing world.