There are values that are considered to be common for all nations of our planet, and among them are solidarity and the importance of collaboration between countries. Nevertheless, sometimes collaboration that is said to have benevolent intentions is really aimed at extending the sphere of influence of some country. China belongs to the number of largest producing countries, and this is why its activity in other countries is of interest to many researchers and reviewers of economic news. The issue concerning relations among states that have been discussed recently is the expansion of China’s influence in Africa.
In their article, Christopher Alessi and Beina Xu review the present state of China’s economy and the way that China’s own economic issues influence its relationships with Africa (2015, para. 2). The authors find the present situation to be controversial. It is clear that leaders of many countries agree that China made a significant contribution to the further development of the economy of African countries. At the same time, the world community realizes that Chinese involvement in the economic development of Africa is aimed at resolving many problems that China is facing today. For instance, Chinese rapid economic growth caused an acute need for resources.
The world community tends to be critical about China’s readiness to solve its problems with the help of other countries’ natural resources. At the same time, it cannot be denied that China invests enormous sums of money into the development of Africa’s infrastructure and improving its transport system. The article also considers what Africans feel about China’s increasing activity in their countries. According to that, many African workers tend to mistrust China. As they say, they do not feel that their countries are full-fledged players as China introduces various labor practices that they believe to be unfair. What is more, the officials of African countries claim that Chinese businesspersons sometimes do not take local laws into consideration. China keeps using its labor and working equipment during the development of its projects in Africa. Due to that, many Africans tend to be skeptical about these relationships.
The second source seems to be quite outdated as it appeared almost five years ago. The author reviews the economic ties of China and Africa and gives his own opinion on the importance and the possible results of this collaboration. According to him, China has played an important role in the improvement of the economic situation in Africa. The author states that China’s own economical development has helped Africa to become a separate player in the world of economy (“Africa’s growing trade and financial links with China,” 2011, para.1). Author considers this collaboration to be extremely beneficial for Africa. According to him, many experts believe China to become even more important for growing economic prosperity of Africa. At the same time, the reviewer pays attention to possible negative consequences of this collaboration. For instance, he admits that some of China’s financial operations in Africa are not transparent. Moreover, African countries cannot be regarded to be rich and this is why there is a risk of Africa’s running into the debt that will nullify its temporary economic breakthrough. As the author believes, Africa’s involvement with one of the largest producing countries can be beneficial or cause a loss; the outcome of such a collaboration depends upon the strategy that Africa is going to follow.
References
Africa’s growing trade and financial links with China (2011). Reuters. Web.
Alessi, C. & Xu, B. (2015). China in Africa. CFR Backgrounders. Web.