Companies in Hebei province are eager to invest in Africa because of the continent's abundant natural resources, strong labor force and huge market demand, industry insiders say.
Chinese companies in Africa hoping to ride on the coat tails of their country's reputation for reliability and hard work need to take a good look at how they are operating in the continent, the head of a mining company in Namibia says.
Recently, Chinese academia and media have engaged in a heated discussion over the government's One Belt, One Road initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
In the mid-1980s, Kenya realized there was not enough employment for the growing number of young people. This was particularly disconcerting when graduates filled the streets looking for elusive white-collar jobs.
In the early 1990s the rumbling of cement mixers in Kenya signaled the arrival of European construction firms. In some cases the work they did could save lives and received the appropriate accolades in such cases as the overpass built at a level crossing in Eldoret, in the country's west.
China's Huawei Technologies is helping Africa advance deeper into the digital age with such projects as upgrading an undersea cable to Europe, which will help in reducing the urban-rural digital divide and expansion of connectivity to libraries, schools and data-hungry users.
China has become a key economic partner for East Africa as China and Kenya embark on modernizing through ambitious infrastructure development programs.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, African governments seeking financing for capital-intensive and risky infrastructure projects were forced to accept financing, resources and delivery of projects from a single source, usually tied to the financier.
I recently attended a lobby group conference where African contractors complained that Chinese companies had taken over not only major projects such as roads, but also real estate projects.
It is a vision with world-changing implications, an unfolding plan that will weave much of Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East much more closely together through a patchwork of diplomacy, new infrastructure and free-trade zones.
As the One Belt, One Road initiative unfolds, Chinese policymakers have the chance to finally give finance and the financial system the prominence they deserve as the country works with its neighbors in Southeast Asia, experts say.
The residents of Khiva in Uzbekistan might be forgiven for thinking the Silk Road trading caravans of old had come to stop at the mud-walled heart of their ancient trading city.
Copyright 1995 - 2010 . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 20100000002731 
