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Credit: Qi Lin
Working Paper 14: Creating a market for skills transfer: A case study of AVIC International’s skills transfer programs in Kenya
This paper by Irene Yuan Sun and Qi Lin examines the widespread belief that Chinese immigrants in Africa self-isolate, and whether this alleged behavior is due to extreme ethnocentricity. Such beliefs implicate Chinese identity as central to this behavior, implicitly assuming that other non-indigenous people do not self-isolate. While some scholars claim that Chinese enterprises have achieved significant localization, others hold that the Chinese tend to live isolated from local society and leave open the reasons for this trend, allowing that ethnocentricity may be a cause. However, for the authors, who conducted a survey on the level of adaptation of Chinese immigrants in Zambia, there is no evidence that Chinese immigrants are particularly ethnocentric. Download Policy Brief (PDF) »
Credit: Lu Yao
Credit: Uwe Wissenbach
Policy Brief 19: Adaptation of Chinese Immigrants in Zambia
This paper by Lu Yao, Barry Sautman, Yan Hairong, and Zhou Weixuan examines the widespread belief that Chinese immigrants in Africa self-isolate, and whether this alleged behavior is due to extreme ethnocentricity. Such beliefs implicate Chinese identity as central to this behavior, implicitly assuming that other non-indigenous people do not self-isolate. While some scholars claim that Chinese enterprises have achieved significant localization, others hold that the Chinese tend to live isolated from local society and leave open the reasons for this trend, allowing that ethnocentricity may be a cause. However, for the authors, who conducted a survey on the level of adaptation of Chinese immigrants in Zambia, there is no evidence that Chinese immigrants are particularly ethnocentric. Download Policy Brief (PDF) »
Working Paper 13: African politics meets Chinese engineers: The Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway Project in Kenya and East Africa
This paper by Uwe Wissenbach and Yuan Wang examines the way local Kenyan politics have affected implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway. The paper also points to initial and immediate development opportunities for local content, jobs, and skills while arguing for a more rigorous assessment of the SGR's economic development potential. Unless Kenya overhauls its governance framework on the issues outlined in this paper, infrastructure projects risk overshooting initial budgets and reducing the willingness of neighboring countries or foreign investors to engage in future initiatives in Kenya. Download Working Paper (PDF) »
Credit: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy
Policy Brief 18: The United States and China in Africa: What does the data say?
This brief by CARI researchers Janet Eom, Jyhjong Hwang, Lucas Atkins, Yunnan Chen, and Siqi Zhou examines how Chinese engagement compares to US engagement in African countries. How do oil exports influence Chinese and US trade relations with Africa? Why do Chinese and US firms favor investment in different African industries? What are the main sectors to which China and the United States provide loans in Africa? This policy brief analyzes CARI’s data on Chinese and US trade, FDI, and loans to Africa over the past 15 years to answer such questions. The authors find that Chinese engagement emphasizes Africa’s infrastructure needs, key countries are consistently top destinations for different economic activities, and fluctuating commodity prices are important to both the United States and China in Africa. Download Policy Brief (PDF) »
Policy Roundtable:
PROSPECTS FOR U.S.-CHINA-AFRICA RELATIONS IN THE TRUMP ERA
CARI hosted a policy roundtable on Wednesday, April 26 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington DC to explore the future of U.S.-China-Africa relations in the Trump era. This roundtable drew on the public and private sectors to explore the future of this trilateral relationship in an evolving geopolitical landscape.
More details can be found here.
The video recording of the event can be accessed here.
Guest Post: The Welcome Party: Cross-Strait Relations and Chinese Loans in Africa
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
This guest post is by Yunnan Chen, PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Jyhjong Hwang, the Senior Research Assistant at the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Do African countries that switch diplomatic relations from Taiwan to Beijing get a boost in Chinese finance? CARI’s loan database shows that checkbook diplomacy does not always pay off immediately and does not guarantee a continuous flow of financing indefinitely.
On December 20 2016, Portuguese-speaking islands of São Tomé and Principe recognised the People’s Republic of China, switching its allegiance away from the Republic of China, Taiwan, with which it had maintained diplomatic relations since 1997. In this it follows a number of recent converts: Malawi, which switched from Taiwan to China in 2008, and The Gambia, which broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2013. This leaves the small club of African countries maintaining relations with Taiwan even smaller: only Burkina Faso and Swaziland continue to recognise Taiwan over China.
