China Africa Project
The China Africa Project (CAP) is a multimedia resource dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s growing engagement with Africa. Through a combination of original content and curation of third-party material from across the Internet, the CAP’s objective is purely informational. None of the blog’s authors or producers have any vested interest in any Chinese or African position.
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Last Updated: July 5, 2018
The China Africa Project
09.19.15
The News Media’s Mixed Record in Covering China-Africa Ties
News organizations from across Africa and around the world are devoting more resources to covering China’s engagement on the continent. The overall quantity of coverage has undoubtedly increased over the past decade. The key question, though, is...
The China Africa Project
09.15.15
Growing Demand in China for Africa’s Lion Bones
Traditional Chinese medicine—popular throughout Asia—long has prized the supposed medicinal value of tiger bones. Now, though, as the world’s wild tiger population is disappearing fast, even facing extinction, the Chinese medicine industry may have...
The China Africa Project
09.04.15
South Africa’s Inexplicable Love Affair with China
While the recent economic turmoil in China is prompting a number of African countries to reconsider their growing economic dependence on the People’s Republic of China, not so in South Africa. Both the government and the ruling African National...
The China Africa Project
09.02.15
The China Economy: What Lessons for Africa?
When African policy makers scan the globe in search of inspiration on how to structure their economies, that search often leads to Beijing. Not surprisingly, African leaders look at what China has done over the past 30 years where it went from being...
The China Africa Project
08.25.15
Chinese Investment in Africa: Surprisingly Small, but Growing Fast
It’s a widespread misconception that just because China is Africa’s top trading partner, it’s also the continent’s largest foreign investor. In fact, China ranks seventh overall in FDI, far behind the United States, long Africa’s largest source of...
The China Africa Project
08.11.15
China’s Role in Africa’s ‘Looting Machine’
China goes to great lengths to differentiate its engagement in Africa from the continent’s former European colonizers by emphasizing so-called “win-win development.” Chinese leaders regularly visit Africa where they emphatically reject the...
The China Africa Project
08.04.15
U.S. Not Concerned About Chinese Competition in Africa ... But It Probably Should Be
The difference between U.S. and Chinese foreign policies in Africa was on stark display in July when president Barack Obama made his landmark visits to Kenya and Ethiopia. The president brought along with him a vast agenda that transcended trade,...
The China Africa Project
07.23.15
A Kenyan Columnist’s Provocative Views on the Chinese in Africa
In Mark Kapchanga’s view, the West, particularly the media, really does not understand what the Chinese are doing in Africa. Kapchanga, a provocative Nairobi-based journalist and columnist, isn’t shy in arguing his case that on balance China’s...
The China Africa Project
07.14.15
China’s Rapidly Changing Views on Wildlife Conservation in Africa
A dramatic shift in Chinese public opinion about animal welfare and global wildlife conservation appears to be underway. Supported by high-profile celebrity campaigns by NBA legend Yao Ming and actress Li Bing Bing, there is growing awareness in...
The China Africa Project
07.06.15
China’s Expanding Military Presence in Africa
China is steadily expanding its military footprint in Africa, highlighted by the recent deployment of 700 combat-ready troops to join a multinational peacekeeping operation in South Sudan. In all, the People’s Liberation Army and Navy now have an...
The China Africa Project
07.01.15
China Starts to Play Nice with Foreign Aid Partners
New research from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in China indicates Beijing is starting to be more open about its international aid programs. If so, this would mark a significant change from the past where the Chinese government was...
The China Africa Project
06.25.15
South Africa Tourism in Crisis as Chinese Reject New Visa Regulations
South Africa’s tourism sector is in crisis as a series of new visa regulations have prompted dramatic falls in arrivals, particularly from the world’s largest source of tourists: China. The number of Chinese visitors to South Africa has plunged a...