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China's engagement in Africa is generally portrayed simply as African countries being exploited for their mineral wealth by a wealthy political and economic superpower. Is this always the case? Certain African countries have been able to use China's involvement in the region to grow their economies and solicit renewed interest from previously disengaged foreign powers by using their relationship with China to bolster their political capital. In this thought provoking and original work Lucy Corkin demonstrates how Angola has been amongst the most successful of African nations in this role. The concept of 'African agency' covers a wide range of different countries with very different capabilities and experiences of engaging with China. In each individual county there are a myriad of actors all with increasingly discernible agencies. Uncovering African Agency; Angola's Management of China's Credit Lines casts a fascinating new light on China's involvement with her largest African trading partner and through this shows how different African states and the governmental actors within them are able to exploit the relationship to their best advantage.

As China turns increasingly to the cultivation of soft power in the course of developing its foreign policy, the use of political rhetoric and its explicit and implicit audiences become more and more important, both on a bilateral level and within the international arena at large. Using the case of China's relations with African countries, this article examines key themes within China's diplomatic narrative regarding its role on the African continent and contrasts with Western and African responses. À proporção que a China se transforma cada vez mais para o cultivo do soft power no curso de desenvolvimento de sua política externa, o uso da retórica política e seus públicos explícitos e implícitos se tornou cada vez mais importante, tanto a nível bilateral quanto no âmbito internacional em geral. Usando o caso das relações da China com os países africanos, este artigo examina temas-chave dentro da narrativa diplomática da China em relação ao seu papel no continente Africano e contrasta com as respostas ocidentais e africanas.

Chinese and South African companies are increasingly competing with each other for market space in all sectors of Africa's economies. China's economic growth means that it is not only stepping up efforts in Africa to gain access to raw materials, but also that it sees Africa as a large potential market for its goods. South Africa, meanwhile, is the third largest investor in the rest of Africa, with its US$5.6bn FDI (2005) outweighing China's US$3bn (2006). Chinese FDI looks set to increase, however, meaning a rise in competitiveness for African market share between the two countries. The author suggests that it is in the interests of both parties to pursue a policy of cooperation in this regard [IBSSWG]. Reprinted by permission of Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis Ltd.

The China-Africa relationship has so far largely been depicted as one in which the Chinese state and Chinese entrepreneurs control the agenda, with Africans and their governments as passive actors exercising little or no agency. This volume examines the African side of the relation, to show how African state and non-state actors increasingly influence the China-Africa partnership and, in so doing, begin to shape their economic and political futures. The influx of public and private sector Chinese actors across the African continent has led to a rise of opportunities and challenges, which the volume sets out to examine. With case studies from Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Zambia, and across the technology, natural resource, manufacturing, and financial sectors, it shows not only how African realities shape Chinese actions, but also how African governments and entrepreneurs are learning to leverage their competitive advantages and to negotiate the growing Chinese presence across the continent.

The prevailing view of China's engagement in Africa is that African countries are being exploited for their mineral wealth by a country whose political and economic power is much greater than their own. These largely government-to-government contracts are criticized by the international community, ostensibly due to their lack of transparency and accountability but also because China is perceived to be gaining preferential access to natural resources. One of the more prominent cases cited is that of state-owned China Export-Import Bank making available loans for Angolan post-war infrastructure rehabilitation. This work sets out to analyse the mechanism of these contracts and the infrastructure construction that they are intended to facilitate. It is consequently an interrogation of the nature of the relationship between the Chinese and Angolan governments. I will argue that previous analyses of the relationship between China and Angola, while noting the role of African agency in such a mechanism, have not fully explored its implications and explanatory powers for China-Angola relations. The Angolan government plays an important role in the outcome of this bilateral co-operation. The strength of the rhetoric surrounding China's relations with Africa, from Chinese, Western and African sources is of central importance to this study. This, ultimately, I argue here, shapes the context in which the relationship is viewed. China's approach to development in Africa is interpreted as a threat by the West and is broached as such. The Angolan elite are in a position to exploit such tensions between China and the West to leverage their own political agenda. I argue that while the political relationship has not been without its problems, both the Angolan and the Chinese government view the relationship as necessary, as much for the economic gains it brings as for its importance in trying to define and establish both states' positions in the eyes of the international community.

This chapter presents the historical origins of China's foreign policy towards Africa, and the institutional mechanisms that currently drive foreign policy formulation towards the continent. While the pace at which China's relations with Africa have strengthened is remarkable, it is important to bear in mind that China's relations with other regions have shown similar levels of stimulation. In 1994, China Agricultural Bank, China Development Bank and China Exim Bank were created as policy banks. Interestingly, a Chinese researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) commented that China Exim Bank is not referred to as a policy bank' in China, but rather a state-owned bank'. The World Bank has locked horns with China Exim Bank, arguing that, given the latter's requirement for a guaranteed revenue stream, their loans should be considered commercial, and not require a sovereign guarantee.