Through the stories of the traders, migrants and others who connect Africa with China, Margaret Lee enlightens readers on the human mesh that sustains economic relations between China and Africa. This work is set to inform and influence the varied studies and policy reviews that are being undertaken in this fast developing area.

Francis Botchway, Qatar University

This is a necessary and sobering analysis of Afro-neoliberal capitalism and particularly of the Chinese impact. The in-depth case studies add value to a discourse which is critical of welcoming new actors without a closer examination of the effects they have both on the majority of the people involved and those affected at the receiving end.

Henning Melber, director emeritus of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

The opening up of Africa to Chinese investment and trade has become a staple of Africanist discourse over the last decade. However, far too little attention has been paid to the role of Africans as agents in this process. Through an intimate and deeply sympathetic study of the triumphs and tribulations of African economic involvements with the Chinese, this important contribution to the literature hugely extends our understanding of a major dimension of South-South relations. It deserves to command the attention all those interested in world trade and development across a range of disciplines.

Roger Southall, professor emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand