Abstract (eng)
Sino-African relations developed enormously in various sectors in recent years. A massive increase in bilateral trade, new investment flows, and large amounts of resource-backed loans from China have brought many changes to African economies. Two sub-Saharan African countries that were targets to numerous capital flows in last recent years were Angola and Zambia. Chinas activities in connection with oil-backed loans in Angola have caused strong attention from traditional donors and media and became objects for criticism, among other reasons because China didn’t require any preconditions in terms of structural changes for the provision of the loans. Still, Angola managed to rebuild significant parts of its destroyed infrastructure through Chinese loans and share its wealth with the population. In Zambia’s case, especially Chinese investments in the copper industry had a significant impact on the country’s economy. After the privatization of Zambia’s mining industry, Chinese companies acquired numerous mines. However, these investments were followed by serious complaints directed at the new Chinese investors. Although public perception of China’s engagement in Africa is mainly associated with projects related to raw materials, both Angola and Zambia attracted significant Chinese direct investments in other sectors. In general, the results of Chinese activities in Africa are difficult to measure at the moment, since there is litte empirical data available. It can be concluded that China’s engagement in Africa does not differ significantly from that of other foreign investors and in reality is much less substantial than claimed by media and policymakers.