The twenty-first century has seen China to emerge as a key player in the global affairs and in particular economic development trend. For sure, China’s comprehensive involvement in African social- economics has been seminal. Africa, with the world’s fastest-growing population and a vast deposit of diverse natural resources, has been viewed as having enormous opportunities for economic growth and social improvement. To meet that end, China’s strategic investments in the local infrastructure projects and rapid trade ties with Africa have forged a critical link in unlocking Africa’s economic potentials.

According to Morgenthau’s discourse on national power, Africa itself is a large continent surrounded by two oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, which also links it to Asia and Europe. Except its excellent geography, Africa has possessed extremely rich natural resources (e.g. food, raw materials, the power of oil), not to mention its younger population. Yet, history tells that the potentials of Africa as a great power center will only be realized if and when it acquires a similar industrial capacity along with financial and technological know-hows. Equally, we argue that leadership is always a decisive element in terms of political skills because, as Kissinger stated, it leads national aspirations to the realization of the national goal being pursued.

Historically and even after their independence since the 1950s, most of African states have been affected by the former colonial rules as they gained no or less substantial economic power from the “mother countries”. Only with the emergence of the new economies in the world, are most of African states able to develop their badly needed infrastructure and necessary human development. China stands obviously because Beijing has seen Africa en bloc as the strategic partner in line with the geostrategic necessity, economic reciprocity and diplomatic synergies.

China’s engagement with Africa began in the post-colonial period, and was characterized by ideological solidarity and mutual support during the Cold War. However, it was not until the turn of the millennium that economic ties began to be strengthened significantly. The formation of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000 was a watershed moment, laying the groundwork for broad bilateral relations based on economic, political, and cultural exchanges. It is true that China’s involvement in Africa has grown significantly over the past two decades, characterized by increased trade, investment, and diplomatic engagement. In terms of Economic Involvement, China is Africa’s largest trading partner. The trade between China and Africa has grown exponentially, with Chinese exports to Africa including machinery, electronics, and textiles, while African exports to China largely consist of raw materials such as oil, minerals, and agricultural products.

Since China has been securing access to Africa’s rich natural resources, including oil, copper, cobalt, and rare earth minerals, it is necessary for China to learn the lessons from history which requires China to invest all the areas in Africa covering infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing rather than mining only.

First, China holds that “To seek for wealth, it is necessary to build roads”. This argument allows China to invest all major infrastructure projects, such as roads, railways, ports, and airports. Accordingly, it is possible and profitable to transport the natural resources from Africa to the other industrial countries all over the world.

Second, for many reasons in history, the so-called industrial countries have decided and even controlled the prices of natural resources in the world markets, and thus the prices are always much lower than the manufactured goods. Given this, the small-medium-size factories in Africa are often financed through Chinese loans and built by Chinese companies. For sure, this has led to widely diverse opinions on Chinese investments.

Third, China and Africa have also worked steadily to promote people-to-people exchanges programs because it is the motto held in China that “international relations can only be iron-clapped through the inter-peoples mutual understanding. Accordingly, China has established strong bilateral ties with many African nations through high-level visits, cooperation agreements, and forums such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China employs soft power strategies, including cultural exchanges, scholarships for African students, and the promotion of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes across the continent.

It is also true that China has upheld the policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries, contrasting with the often conditional aid and investment from Western countries. This approach is generally well-received by African governments. With regards to development assistance to Africa,China provides significant development aid and concessional loans to most of states. This includes funding for infrastructure, healthcare, education, and technology transfer as China has periodically offered debt relief to African countries, although concerns about debt sustainability and “debt-trap discourse” have been circulated globally.

Advisably, since China is a rising power with the great potential to create a more fair and just world order in line with international law and the central authority of the United Nations, its massive involvement into Africa-rebuilding is a diplomatic move as well. First, China still needs African countries’ support to “one-China” globally and particularly at the international agencies at the all levels. Second, it is necessary for China to create a new image of “a civilian power” which has no intention to pursue exclusive colonial businesses and called for a “win-win” in international affairs. Third, China does need comprehensive cooperation and mutual understanding in the new era global competition since the EU has pursued its ambitious “Global Gateway”, along with the U.S., Japan, India and Turkey. Forth, China opines that Africa is a remarkable strategic assets for China’s global strategy to pursue a multipolar world order.

In sum, despite the numerous advantages for China, its engagement in Africa is not without challenges and criticism. Concerns have been discussed previously, but more important is that China does need its statecrafts more flexible and pragmatic to deal with all kinds of problems from the debts issue, trade imbalance, sustainable development, environmental protection and legal preservation of the local cultural and social customs, not to mention the corruptions in the local politics.

Once these issues were efficiently managed and under control, China and African countries are generally able to move their partnership forward towards the new high-level rather than dependence. By focusing on these areas, China can increase its involvement in Africa and gain the support of African countries through building mutual trust, ensuring sustainable and inclusive development, and cultivating genuine partnerships are critical to improving China’s role and reputation on the continent.