China and Mozambique: From comrades to capitalists - Softcover

China's rising position in African affairs, from that of quiescence to becoming a key economic actor on the continent, is now a well-recognised fact. The emergence of China as Africa's top trading partner and leading source of foreign direct investment in 2009 has sharpened the focus on Chinese aspiration and conduct in Africa. Two- way trade is surging, from just over US$10 billion in 2000 to US$220 billion in 2012, and is predicted by South Africa's leading financial institution, Standard Bank, to rise to US$300 billion by 2015. At the same time, the range of reactions to greater Chinese involvement across Africa has varied from enthusiastic embrace by elites to caution from businesses, trade unions and civil society, and even hostility from some local communities. As China-Africa ties have grown in depth and complexity, it is necessary to go beyond the larger surveys to delve into a bilateral relationship to get a fuller sense of the ties today. This book chooses to explore one case in particular, that is the relationship between China and Mozambique, and the specificities that it brings to the general themes raised above in China-Africa relations. It begins by examining the bilateral relationship in both its historical context and more contemporary forms. It looks at Chinese investment in the Mozambican banking sector and at elite business alliances, in agriculture and infrastructure. It discusses the meaning and implications of the cooperation between the two countries.

Chris Alden holds a Readership in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He taught Inter- national Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1990 to 2000 and established the East Asia Project in 1992. He has held fellowships at Cambridge University, Tokyo University and Ecole Normale Superieure. Alden is a research associate of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and the University of Pretoria. He has published widely on China-Africa relations, South African foreign policy, and post-conflict peace building in Africa. Sergio Chichava holds a PhD Political Science from Bordeaux University in African Politics and he is currently a senior researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE) in Mozambique, where he leads a new research programme on rising powers and development. Chichava has been lecturing in the Sociology of Politics and Mozambican Politics at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo and has held fellowships at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. His recent work focuses on the role of China and Brazil in Mozambique's agriculture sector.