Introduction

The intensity of China's engagement of Africa over the past decade has taken many by surprise, simultaneously igniting hopes for a greater future for the continent and fears of the dangers of entering yet another structurally imbalanced relationship which offers little domestic value-add for Africa's fragile economies. Indeed, China's engagement with Africa, which has been most pronounced since the turn of the century, continues to lampoon vibrant and globally engaging debate around the needs and challenges facing Africa's ongoing economic development.

Generally speaking, the volume of Chinese financial assistance, trade and investment in Africa, and the manner in which these flows have accelerated the continent's impressive contemporary growth trajectory have seen China heralded as an overwhelmingly positive partner for forward-looking African emerging and frontier markets. Moreover, China's own domestic economic transformation over the course of the past three decades provides cogent lessons for African economies aiming to fasten themselves more meaningfully onto the global economy.

The recent global economic downturn has provided China with a valuable opportunity to prove both its own domestic economic resilience and its commitment to Africa. Throughout 2009, the relatively moderate decline of China-Africa trade stood in stark contrast to the hollowing out of trade volumes between Africa and its traditional partners in the advanced economies of the Euro-zone, Japan and the United States (US).

However, there are two sides to every coin. In the same manner in which the West has borne the brunt of many of the accusations regarding Africa's post-independence economic failings, China, rapidly becoming Africa's most substantial commercial partner, has courted similar controversy in recent years. Driving this side of the spectrum are allegations of China's unwillingness to ensure local beneficiation when extracting Africa's abundant natural resources, as well as Beijing's strict policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of trading partner states, some of which remain actively omitted from similar engagements with Western partners owing to perceptions of domestic abuses of power.

Many have gone as far as to assert that China is emerging as a "neo-colonial" power in Africa. The veracity of these allegations has inspired action by Beijing, which has used its Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) as a platform to counter much of the negative attention it has gained from its engagements in vulnerable African markets.

Notably, much of the criticism of China's commercial strategy in Africa originates from the continent's traditional partner states. However, there is also rising debate within Africa as to the longevity and mutually beneficial nature of the current strand of Sino-African ties. Indeed, with China as a catalyst, debate around the terms of African engagement has been rekindled, with consensus remaining positively elusive. For example, in a recent online debate on the Economist website entitled "This house believes that China's growing involvement in Africa is to be welcomed", 59% voted yes, and 41% no.

While some criticisms of China's engagements in Africa are certainly justified, others are seemingly intellectually inconsistent with empirical data, sentiment on the ground and anecdotal evidence. Various myths concerning the manner of and motivations for Chinese intensified advance into Africa have resulted. Following which, many of these misunderstandings obfuscate, forming the premise upon which additional arguments concerning Sino-African relations are concocted.

To be sure, the criticisms levelled against China have often polarised debate in Africa, forcing governments and civil society to lazily adopt extreme positions on either side of an artificial ideological spectrum. Few contest, however, that China's engagement with Africa is long term, and a more informed analysis of these contestations is therefore timely.