China and Africa

It is hard to make a case that Africa matters very much to China. The 45-odd countries of the continent constitute roughly a quarter of all U.N. members and something like a half of all developing states, but they count for little in the overall scheme of Chinese foreign policy objectives. To be sure, there have been times when China was less involved with the international community and its rhetorical policy of support for African causes appeared to suggest that Africa was important to China. But especially since the late 1970s, when China sought prosperity through greater integration with the states of the global market economy, the rhetoric about Africa has been shown to be unsupported by real initiative. Yet this is not to suggest that it is pointless to review China's African policy, for at least a brief survey can help highlight the priorities of Chinese foreign policy and help separate the reality from the sometimes lofty rhetoric.