China-Africa Relations: What Lies Beneath?

China’s involvement in Africa has caused much debate. The increasing presence in Africa has drawn mixed reactions from the academic and media platforms. It has been argued that China is sapping Africa’s manufacturing potential and also extracting Africa’s resources without any significant benefits to Africa. Thus China is seen as a contributor to Africa’s underdevelopment and deindustrialization. However, some have seen China as Africa’s partner for development. They see China’s presence in Africa as beneficial to China and Africa. As a result, there is no settled opinion as to whether China’s increasing presence in Africa is sustainable to Africa or whether the relationship is unsustainable. Although the relations between China and Africa are widely covered in the media, empirically the area has been underresearched. This article, therefore, contributes to literature by surveying the major political and economic issues around the China-Africa relations. The article considers several issues relevant to the China-Africa relationship.