Tables
Table 1: Summary of China's economic engagements in the world and in Africa under four categories
Note: 2010-2014 total (billion $US)
Table 2: Cross-Country Studies on Chinese Investment in Africa
Author, Date | Research Question | Measure of Investment | Data Description | Main Result(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kaplinsky, 2008 | What does the rise of Chinese exports mean for African industry? | Trade | UNCTAD, Comtrade and various secondary sources | African firms are getting squeezed out of export markets due to rising Asian competition and the governance structure of global value chains is changing. |
Kaplinsky and Morris, 2009 | What are the characteristics of large state-owned Chinese FDI in SSA? | State-owned FDI | AERC scoping studies, 2005 UNIDO survey, other smaller case studies | Chinese state-owned FDI is integrated with Chinese government strategy, long-term oriented and bundled with aid, especially in natural resource countries. |
Brautigam, 2011 | How much of China's finance to Africa qualifies as official development assistance? | Aid, concessional and non-concessional loans | Chinese foreign aid data, key interviews, review of official policies | Much of China's officially-supported financing to Africa does not meet the OECD criteria for foreign aid. |
Kolstand and Wiig, 2011 | What are the motives behind China's OFDI in Africa? | Outward FDI | UNCTAD (2003-2006) | The dominant motive for Chinese FDI in Africa is access to natural resources, particularly in poorly governed countries, but that is not different from other countries' engagement. |
Cheung et al., 2012 | What are the determinants of Chinese FDI in Africa? | Outward FDI | MOFCOM OFDI flow | Chinese ODI correlates to market size and real GDP growth, trade and project ties with China, corruption and low law and order and presence of natural resources. |
Ramasamy et al., 2012 | What are the determinants of FDI location by Chinese public and private countries | Public and private FDI | Annual reports of top firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges | State-owned enterprises affiliated with local governments invest more in less stable countries while central and especially private firms rather tend to be market seekers. |
Zhang et al., 2013 | What are the determinants of private Chinese FDI in Africa? | Private FDI | MOFCOM OFDI flow | Private FDI is market seeking and tends to concentrate in manufacturing and agriculture |
Kholsa, 2015 | Does Chinese involvement in Africa reduce intra-regional trade? | FDI | FDI is not directly included in the estimate, trade data from Comtrade | Trade relations with China reduce trade with other African countries though the effect has been much lower since 2000, possibly due to infrastructural investment/FDI. |
Shen, 2015 | What are the trends of Chinese private FDI in Africa? | Private FDI | MOFCOM OFDI flow | Abundance of skilled employment and natural resources are the main determinants of the sector of Chinese investments in a given country |
Chen, Dollar and Tang, 2016 | What are the determinants of Chinese FDI in Africa? | Firm-level FDI data | MOFCOM OFDI flow | Abundance of skilled employment and natural resources are the main determinants of the sectors of Chinese investments in a given country. |
Sindzingre, 2016 | What are the patterns of convergence between Chinese and Western involvement in Africa? | Trade, FDI, aid | UNCTAD | There are increasingly convergent patterns of trade and investment with Africa between China and Western countries, in terms of primary commodity trade and related sectors of investment. |
Note: UNCTAD and MOFCOM OFDI flow are the same since UNCTAD's source is the MOFCOM OFDI flow data.
Table 3: Country Studies on Chinese Investment in Africa
Author, Date | Country | Research Question | Measure of Investment | Data Description | Main Result(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Econometric studies | |||||
Edwards and Jenkins, 2015 | South Africa | Is China crowding out South African exports of manufactures? | Manufacturing exports | Comtrade | South Africa has lost market share to China in its major export markets. Nonetheless, the crowding out is relative as South African manufacturing exports grew rapidly between 2001 and 2010. |
Edwards and Jenkins, 2015 | South Africa | The Impact of Chinese Import Penetration on the South African Manufacturing Sector | Manufacturing production | Statistics South Africa Production Data Comtrade | Employment in labor intensive manufacturing was negatively impacted by Chinese manufacturing imports. Price inflation was reduced by these imports. |
Ross, 2015. | NGA, ZAF, ZAM, GHA, KEN, ALG, EGY, SDN | What are the determinants of Chinese OFDI in African countries? | FDI | UNCTAAD | FDI is driven by access to natural resources, infrastructural quality and regulatory environment |
Seyoum and Lin, 2015 | Ethiopia | What determines Chinese FDI in Ethiopia and its location factors? | FDI | 2012 World Bank survey of Chinese investors | Chinese FDI is determined by firm-specific advantages (i.e. technology and lower costs) and market access. |
Case studies | |||||
Gu, 2009 | Ghana, Nigeria, Madagascar | What does Chinese private FDI look like in Africa? | Private FDI | Primary data collection from firms | Dominated by SMEs, mostly in manufacturing. |
Haglund, 2009 | Zambia | Does Chinese state owned FDI promote short- or long-term interests? | SOE | Primary data from mining industry and stakeholders | The nature of investments in the mining sector make them focused on short-term profits rather than long-term sustainability. |
Tang, 2010 | DRG & Angola | What is the impact of Chinese FDI on local employment? | FDI | Field Research | A lot of unskilled labor has been localized but less so skilled labor. Increased localization among older enterprises. |
Oyeranti, Babatunde and Ogunkola, 2011 | Nigeria | What is the economic relationship between China and Nigeria in terms of FDI? | FDI | Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, qualitative survey, key informant interviews | FDI is concentrated in a few sectors of strategic interest to China, largely extraction. Much is carried out by SOEs or JVs. |
Corkin, 2012 | Angola | What are the sourcing behaviors and local linkages of Chinese large construction projects in Africa? | Construction projects (not necessarily FDI) | Qualitative interviews in Angola and China | Very little integration of Angolan labor and materials into Chinese consutrction, amid weak enforcement of government requirements |
Auffray and Fu, 2014 | Ghana | Are there managerial knowledge spillovers from FDI? | Construction FDI | 31 interviews in Accra | Few Chinese construction companies have integrated Ghanaians into their management structures. |
Kernan and Lam, 2014 | Ghana | What is the role of Chinese state in SOE FDIs? | Construction FDI | Field interviews in Ghana | Localization is driven by profit maximization and competition and follows patterns by Western companies |
Tang, 2014 | COMESA | What is the impact of Asian countries on African textile industries? | Textile | Field interviews | Asian textiles have outcompeted African textile companies but there is potential for flying geese to relocate production to Africa. |
Barton, 2015 | Zambia | What if any influence does the Chinese State have on terms of FDI in Zambia? | SEZs | Primary archival data, elite interviews | Finds that literature speculates on non-evident coercive investment practices and that investment arrangements are "calculated, consensual and symbiotic" |
Chen et al., 2015 | Nigeria | Is there larning and technology transfer from Chinese manufacturing FDI in Nigeria? | Manufacturing FDI | Field interviews with Nigerian and Chinese firms in Nigeria | Evidence of limited but significant technology transfers, limited evidence of perceptions that Chinese firms don't hire local labor |
Karkkainen, 2015 | Zimbabwe | Is Chinese engagement with Zimbabwe part of China's geoeconomic strategy? | Secondary sources only | Suggests that China's securing of resource backing for loans is part of its global geoeconomic strategy. | |
Brautigam, Weis and Tang, 2016 | Ethiopia | What have been the effects of Ethiopia's industrial policy on its leather sector | Chinese FDI in leather sector | Semi-structured interviews | The policy framework centered around attracting Chinese investment has yet to translate latent comparative advantage into a full one due to policies, supply of hides, low scale and infrastructure. |
Brautigam, Tang and Xia, 2017 | Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania | What does Chinese manufacturing investment look like on the ground in these countries? | Manufacturing FDI | In-depth interviews | Chinese investment is largely local-market seeking with some exporting; high local employment but few linkages and little tech transfer. |
Tang (forthcoming) | Tanzania | Mapping the overall state of Chinese investments in Tanzania's manufacturing sector | Manufacturing FDI | 21 in-depth interviews | Chinese manufacturing investments are in various subsectors, Chinese firms are somewhat clustered, there is technology transfer in terms of machinery and local management, varying use of local raw material. |
Xia (forthcoming) | Kenya | Why are Chinese companies investing in Kenya, what are they investing in and what are their impacts? | Ag. & Mfg. FDI | KenInvest, field interviews | Construction FDI has flocked to Kenya partly due to increasing Chinese contracted projects, domestic and AGOA market access for mfg., ag. Investment is relatively new and local linkages are growing. |
Figures
Figure 1: Mention of Chinese Investment in Africa in Major News Outlets 2000-2016
Source: Authors' calculations using LexisNexis. Note: Number of mentions is equal to the number of newspaper and related articles in the LexisNexis database for the given year that mention China AND Investment AND Africa.
Figure 2: African Countries' Growth Performance - GDP Annual Growth Rate in 2000-2015 (Percentage)
Source: WDI (World Bank 2017)
Figure 3: China's Total Exports and Imports and Shares in World Trade
Source: UN COMTRADE (2017)
Figure 4a: China's Trade with Africa - Exports
Figure 4b: China's Trade with Africa - Imports
Source: UN COMTRADE (2017)
Figure 5a: China's FDI to Africa and the Rest of World - Flows
Figure 5b: China's FDI to Africa and the Rest of World - Stocks
Source: Authors' calculations using data from Table of "China's Outward FDI Flows by Country and Region" in China Commerce Yearbook (various years) published by Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) - click here. The data is same as from China Statistical Yearbook: "Oversea Direct Investment by Countries or Regions" - click here; and UNCTAD Bilateral FDI Statistics - click here.
Figure 6a: China's FDI in Africa, Total Africa, Large Recipient Countries and the Rest of Africa - Flows
Figure 6b: China's FDI in Africa, Total Africa, Large Recipient Countries and the Rest of Africa - Stock
Source: Authors' calculations using data from Table of "China's Outward FDI Flows by Country and Region" in China Commerce Yearbook (various years) published by Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) - click here. The data is same as from China Statistical Yearbook: "Oversea Direct Investment by Countries or Regions" - click here; and UNCTAD Bilateral FDI Statistics - click here.
Figure 7a: China's Total FDI Flow by Sector Structure in 2004-2015 (Percentage)
Figure 7b: China's Total FDI Stock by Sector Structure in 2004-2015 (Percentage)
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017) - click here.
Figure 8: Top Five Sectors in China's FDI Stocks in Africa (Billion $US)
Source: Statistical Communique on China's Foreign Direct Investment (MOFCOM 2017) - click here. Note: The data is for whole Africa, including North Africa, as the data cannot be separated for SSA countries.
Figure 9: Structure of China FDI Stocks in Each Region in 2015 (Percentage)
Source: Authors' calculations using data from Statistical Bulletin of China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment 2013-2015 downloaded from the website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017b) - click here. Note: The sector level of FDI stock data is available only for top five sectors in each region. The missing bar for a particular sector in a particular region implies that this sector does not belong to the top five for this region. However, it does not imply that China did not have FDI for this sector in this region. For each region, the sum of reported sectors in the figure is around 70-80 percent of Chinese FDI stock in this region. We do not have FDI flow data similar as in this figure. It should be expected that structures of FDI flows have changed more rapidly than the stocks.
Figure 10: Value of Turnover Fulfilled Contracted Projects in Africa and Share in China's Total
Source: Authors' calculations using data from Table of "China's International Contracted Projects and Labor Service Cooperation in 2015 by Host Country/Region" in China Commerce Yearbook (various years), published by Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM 2017) - click here. The data can also be accessed at the National Bureau of Statistics of China - click here. Note: China's overseas contracted projects refer to activities of contracting overseas construction projects by Chinese enterprises.
Figure 11: Number of Chinese Workers in Africa by End of Year
Source: Authors' calculations using data from Table of "China's International Contracted Projects and Labor Service Cooperation in 2015 by Host Country/Region" in China Commerce Yearbook (various years), published by Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM 2017) - click here. The data can also be accessed at the National Bureau of Statistics of China - click here. Note: Chinese workers in Africa refer to two types of workers: (1) Chinese workers going abroad under foreign contracted construction projects implemented by Chinese enterprises, which is red bars in the figure; (2) Workers organized by Chinese firms operating in China to provide services to enterprises or agencies abroad, including but not limited to Chinese firms, which is green bars in the figure. There is no separated data for the two types of workers in 2009 and 2010.
Figure 12a: Africa Total Exports and Share of Exports to China
Figure 12b: Africa Total Imports and Share of Imports from China
Source: UN COMTRADE (2017).
Figure 13a: Total FDI Flows in Africa from China and the Rest of the World and Share of China
Figure 13b: Total FDI Stocks in Africa from China and the Rest of the World and Share of China
Source: UNCTAD (2017) - click here.
Figure 14a: Share of China's FDI in Africa Total inward FDI Flows, Total Africa, Large Recipient Countries and the Rest of Africa (Percentage)
Figure 14b: Share of China's FDI in Africa Total Inward FDI Stocks, Total Africa, Large Recipient Countries and the Rest of Africa (Percentage)
Source: Authors' calculations using data from table of "China's Outward FDI Stocks by Country and Region" in China Commerce Yearbook (various years) published by Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. Note: The five large FDI recipient countries are DRC, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Zambia.
Figure 15: Growth in GDP versus in Capital Formation, Annual Average in 2000-2015 (Percentage)
Source: Authors' calculations using data from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD 2017) - National Accounts, click here. Note: Resource-rich countries are Angola, Chad, DRG, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
Figure 16: Equivalent Shares of FDI Flows in Gross Capital Formation for 16 High Growth Countries (Percentage)
Source: Authors' calculations using data from UNSD (2017) for gross capital formation and UNCTAD (2017) for FDI flows.
Figure 17: FDI Inflows in 16 High Growth Countries in 2004-2011 and 2012-2015
Source: Authors' calculations using data from UNCTAD (2017).
Figure 18: Ratios of FDI Flows in 2012-2015 over 2004-2011, Total and from China
Source: Authors' calculations using data from UNCTAD (2017). Note: Ratio=1.0 if the amount of FDI Inflows in 2012-2015 is the same as in 2004-2011
Figure 19: FDI Inflows in 16 High Growth Countries from the World and China, 2012-2015 Aggregation
Source: Authors' calculations using data from UNCTAD (2017).
Figure 20: Equivalent Shares of Construction Value Contracted by Chinese Enterprises in Gross Capital Formation in 16 High Growth African Countries in 2004-2011 and 2012-2015 (Percentage)
Source: Authors' calculations using data from UNSD (2017) for gross capital formation and UNCTAD for FDI flows.