China's Economic Statecraft in Africa: continuity and change

• Main Author: Alves, Ana Cristina
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Humanities and Social Sciences
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81523; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/40802; http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~asiaquarterly/
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Infrastructure-for-resources loans have rapidly emerged as a key feature in China-Africa relations after the turn of the century. Evidence suggests that these loans have been used by China as a tool to open the gates for Chinese construction and resources companies and also pursue mineral resources security goals in Africa. This kind of loans constitutes at present the most popular and evident Chinese positive economic statecraft instrument in Africa. This paper explores how China has used infrastructurefor-resources loans as a positive economic statecraft tool in Africa, and how the lessons learnt over the past decade, the increased wariness of risks it faces, and rising criticism on the continent has led to meaningful shifts in recent years. The article also examines how successful this instrument has been in achieving the above mentioned goals.