{"id":1141,"date":"2007-11-30T10:33:17","date_gmt":"2007-11-30T10:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afrikaansenuus.co.za\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2007-11-30T10:33:17","modified_gmt":"2007-11-30T10:33:17","slug":"chinas-long-march-to-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/?p=1141","title":{"rendered":"China’s long march to Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chinese migrants are following in the footsteps of European settlers, by seeking their fortunes in Africa.<\/p>\n

In the 19th century, most of those drawn to Africa – businessmen, explorers, missionaries and soldiers – came from western Europe.<\/p>\n

Now it is the turn of the Chinese. Over the last decade, tens of thousands have moved to Africa with Beijing’s approval.<\/p>\n

They are settling all over the continent, in rural and urban areas, and are involved in agriculture, construction and trade.<\/p>\n

This latest wave of Chinese migrants – thought to total up to 750,000 – is not the first to have travelled to Africa.<\/p>\n

In the 1960s, China’s communist leader Mao Zedong forged close links with the continent in a bid to garner political support.<\/p>\n

But the Chinese who have moved to Africa in the last 10 years are going for economic, not political reasons as they did under Mao.<\/p>\n

Boosting crop yields<\/p>\n

They are part of China’s bid to secure raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods, but they are also carving out their own opportunities.<\/p>\n

The head of China’s Export-Import Bank, Li Ruogu, recently suggested just how important Africa could be for ordinary Chinese people.<\/p>\n

In a speech in Chongqing, an administrative region with a large rural population, he urged Chinese farmers to move to Africa.<\/p>\n

"Chongqing has a relatively strong agricultural base. Africa has many countries with plenty of land, but food output that is not up to expectations," he said, according to a local media report.<\/p>\n

"There’s no harm in allowing [Chinese] farmers to leave the country to become farm owners [in Africa]," he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Li said the bank would fully support this migration with investment, project development and help with the sale of products.<\/p>\n

But Chinese farmers have already started moving to Africa, according to Liu Jianjun of the China-Africa Business Council, which helps Chinese firms find business opportunities in Africa.<\/p>\n

Mr Liu has personally sent several thousand Chinese people to Africa over the last few years from his home city of Baoding in Hebei Province.<\/p>\n

His organisation mainly focuses on setting up agricultural companies, which he calls "Baoding Villages".<\/p>\n

These Baoding farmers are working in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Senegal, growing crops with African partners and then turning them into food products.<\/p>\n

"At first, people were not willing to go to Africa because it’s too hot, there are diseases and there are wars," says Mr Liu.<\/p>\n

"But after the Chinese government called for people to go, they were more positive."<\/p>\n

Echoing the comments of bank chief Mr Li, he says Chinese farmers use their expertise to help Africans mechanise farms to increase crop yields.<\/p>\n

Money motive<\/p>\n

Experts say China is not yet a major player in African agriculture, but it is changing other economic sectors.<\/p>\n

Chris Alden, of the South African Institute of International Affairs, says the Chinese are beginning to have a big influence in retailing.<\/p>\n

"Chinese migrants or former labourers on construction sites are opening shops, using their contacts to get cheap goods from China," he says.<\/p>\n

As an example, he cites the provincial town of Huambo in central Angola, which had no Chinese shops seven years ago.<\/p>\n

Five years ago there were five and now there are more than 20, says Mr Alden, who has just written a book called China in Africa.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, many Chinese migrants themselves say the chance to earn more money is the main motive for leaving their country.<\/p>\n

Chinese worker Lu Shaoqing, who is helping to build sports stadiums in Angola, says he left his wife and seven-year-old daughter in Beijing for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

"I came here because I wanted to see Africa, and Angola is under reconstruction at the moment so I came to help with that," he says.<\/p>\n

But he admits the 700-odd Chinese workers in his company have the chance to earn up to three times as much as back home in China.<\/p>\n

Influence<\/p>\n

Most Chinese workers, like Mr Lu, will spend just a few years in Africa before returning home to China.<\/p>\n

Their influence on African society is reduced further because many travel without their families and live in all-Chinese communities.<\/p>\n

Mr Lu’s firm has flown over more than 20 Chinese cooks to make sure workers can enjoy their favourite meals.<\/p>\n

But the Chinese are already changing the economic landscape in Africa as they seek to enrich not just their companies and their country, but also themselves.<\/p>\n

And their influence is set to grow.<\/p>\n

Mr Alden says with so many poor farmers in China unable to make a living off the land, Africa presents a host of inviting opportunities.<\/p>\n

"There’s not the sense that the streets are paved with gold but, for people who cannot find work, Africa is a realistic opportunity."<\/p><\/div>\n

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Chinese migrants are following in the footsteps of European settlers, by seeking their fortunes in Africa. In the 19th century, most of those drawn to Africa – businessmen, explorers, missionaries and soldiers – came from western Europe. Now it is the turn of the Chinese. Over the last decade, tens of thousands have moved to … Continue reading “China’s long march to Africa”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[1089,21098,427],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c51-international-news","tag-chinas-long-march-to-africa","tag-s19-english","tag-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}