China's African Adventures

China’s involvement in Africa is typically viewed with skepticism. Many think its development initiatives seek to trap African states in exploitative economic relationships, and that China, like the former Soviet Union during the Cold War, is competing against the United States to spread its political model globally. In this episode of AIAC Talk, Will talks to Professor Tang Xiaoyang, who is Chair of the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University. Professor Tang’s new book, Coevolutionary Pragmatism: Approaches and Impacts of China–Africa Economic Cooperation (CUP, 2021) challenges the idea that China wants to export its ideology to Africa. So then, what does China want to achieve?