Zhou Enlai's 1963–64 visits to 10 African states initiated closer ties between the PRC and Africa for the first time. Since then, China has become "the most dominant foreign power on the continent." But is the relationship mutually beneficial? Fifteen authors tackle this complex question, many of them focusing on barter arrangements, exchange of natural resources for low-interest loans, and infrastructure development. China in Africa is organized in three parts. Part 1 ("Early Contacts and Connections") reviews China-Egypt links, Chinese perspectives on Sino-African relations, the TAZARA Railway, systems of alliance, and development brought via the Belt and Road Initiative. The five chapters in part 2 ask whether a new imperialism or a new world order is emerging. Is China leading a wave of conquest and plunder, adopting a hands-off approach, or using multiple forms of soft power to gain influence? Part 3 examines China's regional footprints. Case studies include anti-Chinese sentiments in news coverage, China's development projects in Zimbabwe, its geographic impact on the continent, African perceptions of China and the Chinese, and "chopsticks mercantilism." The coeditors conclude that African leaders made their own continent "fragile" and hence open to—yet also requiring—development aid from China. This collection presents varied views of complex phenomena, reaching varied, interesting assessments. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty. General readers.

Choice Reviews

This collection is remarkable for confronting the challenges posed by the rise of China as a global economic and military power which has upset the post-World War II global balance of economic (and military) power. This collection offers insightful perspectives on bilateral and multilateral engagement of African countries with China, in the face of the specter of Chinese re-colonization of Africa through debt peonage.

Ayodeji Olukoju, University of Lagos

China in Africa: Imperialism and Partnership in Humanitarian Development provides a platform for unpacking China’s historical, multilateral, and bilateral relations with Africa’s regions and countries, and for critically examining the most recent trends in China's impact on Africa’s development. I recommend this book to scholars, practitioners, and readers with a keen interest in understanding the trajectory of China-Africa relations, and more fundamentally, how to channel the burgeoning relations towards reversing the effects of centuries and decades of Africa’s underdevelopment.

Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council, New York