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China’s Globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative pp 157–178Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Africa-China Relations in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative: Realizing African-Chinese Dreams for Common Development?

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Part of the book series: Politics and Development of Contemporary China ((PDCC))

Abstract

Since its launch in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become synonymous with Chinese foreign policy under Xi Jinping. While China has seen its relations with Africa institutionalized in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) since 2000, little attention, however, has been paid to exploring the role of African countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This chapter seeks to understand Africa-China relations in the context of Beijing’s new-found interest in inserting Africa into the Belt and Road route. Contrary to China’s official rhetoric on sharing the benefits of the country’s economic growth globally, it argues that Africa’s inclusion in the Belt and Road Initiative—President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy—is to demonstrate China’s system self-confidence and belief that it can offer a Chinese model of economic development—the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics as an alternative to Western model for developing countries in Africa to learn from.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The only country being left out at the FOCAC is Swaziland (the country was renamed as Eswatini in April 2018 by King Mswati III), which still maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

  2. 2.

    For the purpose of this chapter, “China” means the regime established by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949.

  3. 3.

    According to China’s foreign policy principle, the country’s foreign affairs are categorized as “Big powers are the key; China’s periphery is the priority; developing countries are the foundation; multilateral platforms are the stage”.

  4. 4.

    The essence of the ‘One China’ policy is that any country that wishes to establish diplomatic relations with China cannot officially recognizes Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau

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  1. Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau
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Correspondence to Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Jean A. Berlie

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Lau, R.KS. (2020). Africa-China Relations in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative: Realizing African-Chinese Dreams for Common Development?. In: Berlie, J. (eds) China’s Globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative. Politics and Development of Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22289-5_9

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