China and African Development: Partnership not Mentoring

Abstract

This article states the conclusions of major field research into the impact of Chinese public and private economic activity on governance in Africa. China has gone into parts of Africa and sectors of African activity where Western actors have been reluctant to venture, yet receives criticism for not reaching standards of governance which the West itself is not able to apply. The Chinese go into Africa on a basis of equality and partnership but are unclear how to impose standards of conduct which are not integral to a consensual relationship or how to guide the development of standards which they do not have at home. China is itself engaging in a continuing process of economic reform and increasing privatisation. Nonetheless, it has developed a doctrine of effective governance in Africa which stresses responsibility and accountability, provision of basic services and social stability, a central Chinese objective at home and abroad.