By Dan Large, Research Director, Africa-Asia Institute, School of Oriental and Africa Studies; Professor Chris Alden, London School of Economics; and Dr Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, St Peter’s College, Oxford. The three have jointly edited a volume of essays entitled ‘China Returns to Africa’ (Christopher Hurst & Co, London, August 2008).
Accelerating China-Africa trade and diplomatic relations are the dominant topic in the Africa-Asia nexus – even if India and Japan have taken the spotlight with grand African summits in New Delhi and Yokohama this year. Accordingly, Chinese officials are well advanced in preparations for the fourth summit of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC IV) to be held in Cairo, Egypt, in late 2009. Chinese officials presented their report on the issues to be raised in the relationship to officials in Cairo this month. The agenda will concentrate on fulfilling the aims set out at the celebratory Beijing summit in 2006. There is likely to be more hard talk about business and cooperation and less razzamatazz in Cairo: this suggests the contours of Africa-China relations are becoming normalised....
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