Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 20 • 17th November 2006

China Pleges Commitment to African Development, But is it Environmentally Friendly?

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Political and business leaders from China and 48 of the 53 African countries attended a summit in Beijing on 4-5 November during which they vowed to greatly expand trade and investment flows, as well as other forms of bilateral cooperation. They adopted a declaration proclaiming the establishment of a “new type of strategic partnership” between China and Africa, calling for enhanced “South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue to promote balanced, coordinated and sustainable development of the global economy.” The document urged rich countries to boost foreign aid spending, honour commitments to open markets and expand debt relief in order to help African countries reduce poverty, control desertification, and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Many analysts say that China’s primary motive in cultivating this partnership is to secure supplies of oil, iron ore, copper, and other natural resources for its booming economy. Currently one third of China’s oil imports come from Africa. The summit also saw USD 1.9 billion in business deals struck between China and Africa primarily in the minerals, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors.

China has faced criticism that its commercial involvement and its loans have not been tied to human rights, governance, or environmental principles. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz recently criticised China for not basing loans on the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of social and environmental standards followed by nearly 80 percent of the world’s commercial banks. He said that Chinese lenders risked repeating Western banks’ history of making loans to support damaging behaviour by corrupt regimes.

Chinese officials reject these claims, insisting that they simply do not wish to impose values on their trading partners. In the action plan adopted at the summit, they further said that China will work to help African countries “turn their advantages in energy and resources into development strengths” while giving “high priority” to environmental protection and sustainable development in the continent.

For a full report, see BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest, 8 November 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/06-11-08/story1.htm.

To access the Action Plan, visit http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/China-Africa/81869.htm.

ICTSD reporting; “China to Double Aid to Africa,” UN INTEGRATED REGIONAL INFORMATION NETWORKS, 4 November 2006; “President Hu: wide-ranging consensus reached during Beijing summit,” XINHUA, 5 November 2006; “’Win-Win’ Deals at China-Africa Summit,” INTER PRESS SERVICE, 6 November 2006; “Wolfowitz slams China banks on Africa lending,” FINANCIAL TIMES, 24 October 2006; “China in Africa: Strictly Business,” COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, 6 November 2006; “We have read Africa’s future, and it is written in Chinese…”, THE EAST AFRICAN, 6 November 2006.