China’s Economic Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa

The chapter documents the growth of economic relations between China and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), focussing on trade, foreign direct investment, Chinese construction and engineering projects, loans, and aid. The chapter highlights the way in which these are sometimes combined in resources-for-infrastructure deals. It shows the variety of different actors involved in these relationships, including state and non-state actors, on both the Chinese and African sides. It then discusses the role of strategic diplomatic, strategic economic, and commercial objectives in the growing Chinese involvement in SSA. It also addresses questions of African agency and the interests of African actors in economic relations with China. The impact of political, strategic economic and commercial factors on different types of economic relations is then analyzed econometrically.