Study Reveals Cooperation Beats Conflict for U.S., China, Africa

Newswise — Amb. David Shinn, B.A. '63, M.A. '64, Ph.D. '80, GW adjunct professor of international affairs, and Joshua Eisenman, B.A. '00, have released their research on China-Africa relations, identifying areas where China and the United States have important differences in their approach to Africa and recommendations of key issues where Beijing and Washington can cooperate in a manner that will benefit Africans. Shinn and Eisenman interviewed more than 250 government officials, academics, business persons, civil society representatives, and ordinary citizens from Africa, China, Europe and the United States and discovered issues including the role of the Chinese Communist Party in the relationship, growing Chinese communities in Africa, military and security ties, the importance of China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, and the growing role of Chinese banking in Africa.

Among the findings is the sharp growth in China-Africa trade, which grew from $55 billion in 2006 to more than $70 billion in 2007. It is expected to top $100 billion in 2010, surpassing the United States and making China Africa's single largest trading partner. While China buys mostly oil and raw materials from Africa, a wide variety of Chinese manufactured goods are now found throughout the African continent. Chinese electronic equipment, for example, is quickly replacing products once supplied by European and American companies.

This study also demonstrates that China relies on high level personal contact to consolidate its relations with African leaders. President Hu Jintao has made three trips to Africa visiting multiple countries since becoming president in 2003. Premier Wen Jiabao also has been a frequent visitor. Beginning in 1991 with Qian Qichen, China's foreign minister has made his first overseas visit every year to Africa. This is a practice that has not escaped the attention of African leaders. This high-level personal contact goes in both directions and is pervasive among Chinese and African government and military officials at all levels.

Chinese communities in Africa, a few of which date back several hundred years, are becoming a more important feature of Africa's business and social structures. Chinese traders and small business persons are increasingly becoming permanent residents in Africa. This same phenomenon has occurred in much of the rest of the world. It should come as no surprise that it is happening in Africa. For example, the current chairman of the African Union Commission and former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Gabon, Jean Ping, is half Chinese.

Shinn served as ambassador to Ethiopia from 1996 to 1999 and to Burkina Faso from l987 to 1990. Eisenman is currently in a Ph.D. program at UCLA. Funded by a grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation, Shinn and Eisenman are working on a book that looks at broad issues in China's relations with all 53 African countries up to the present.

The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs is one of the world's leading schools of international affairs. Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., its mission is to educate the next generation of international leaders, conduct research that advances understanding of important global issues, and engage the policy community in the United States and around the world.