China–Africa Relations: Historical Perspective

China’s rapid and sustained economic growth over the last five decades and its shift from economic periphery to economic core has become an important focus for understanding a slow shift in a global economic system. Europe and the United States had been the centre for global economic activities since the post-world war two era; however, their economic weight is facing opposing balance with China’s emergence as a new rival centre of global market activities. It has been observed that China’s economic influence has been transmitting globally faster than one could picture and Africa is not exceptional. This introductory chapter starts with a brief overview of China–Africa relationship to help to understand the extent to which China’s new venture in Africa aims to diversify its trade, investment and political influence. The chapter introduces China’s strategy for securing long-term energy supplies and developing new relationship with continent based on market interests. This chapter introduces the main themes, arguments and the contribution of the book to current debate on this interesting subject. Moreover, the chapter outlines the structure of the books and the topics each chapter attempts addresses.