Introduction

O ver the last decade, China’s presence on the global stage has shifted dramatically: the country is now an economic powerhouse and increasingly influential in international organizations. As China rises, questions also arise pertaining to its strategic objectives toward many regions and in many domains. China appears to be seeking a “loose, partial, and malleable” hegemony over the global South—making the African continent a strategic priority for Beijing.1 This Asia Policy roundtable is a result of a current research initiative at the National Bureau of Asian Research, “Into Africa: China’s Emerging Strategy,” which aims to better understand China’s strategic ambitions in Africa and assess how the continent fits into China’s envisioned global order. The first three reports in this project to date have examined China’s expansion into Africa from Beijing’s perspective, often relying on Chinese-language sources to draw conclusions and analyze China’s strategy.2 Yet, only looking at Beijing’s viewpoint to get a fuller grasp on China-Africa relations would be a gross oversight that would provide an incomplete impression of China’s engagement with the continent. Africa is a continent with 54 countries and a population of more than 1.3 billion people. China’s engagement with the continent, of course, does not have the same level of impact or influence in all these countries, and not all states share the same opinion regarding China’s presence. This roundtable seeks to share, highlight, and examine African perspectives regarding China’s engagement with and influence on the continent. The essays here provide both regional and functional case studies examining different facets of the China-Africa relationship from the perspective of African