Scholars and well-thought-out strategies are being called on to deepen the relationship

Increased interaction between Chinese and African scholars is one of the ways to sustain deepening Sino-Africa relations, according to participants at a recent meeting in Nairobi.

Experts, scholars, policymakers and practitioners from many disciplines, think tanks and universities in China and Africa attended.

A Chinese healthcare team does an eye surgery in Harare, Zimbabwe. Exchanges between people have strengthened China-Africa cooperation, experts say. Xinhua

The one-day seminar on Nov 10 was titled Deepening China-Africa cooperation in industrialization, infrastructure and private enterprise; alternative development strategies for the post-2015 era.

The group was convened by the Foreign Policies Advisory Group of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Africa Policy Institute, a Kenya-based think tank; and the Chinese embassy in Kenya.

Sino-Africa relations have deepened over the recent past under the auspices of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, officials say. FOCAC's next summit is set for Dec 4-5 in Johannesburg.

"Strategies are needed to inform the future relations of the two partners," says Ji Peiding, a diplomat and a member of the Commission for Africa. The commission was set up in 2004 by then-UK prime minister Tony Blair with goals that included the generation of new ideas for development.

Amidst competing forces and a slow-growing global economy, the participants concluded that strengthened academic interaction would breathe fresh life into the partnership.

"There are about 150 completed scholar projects from the two sides. This should be shored up with investment in academic institutions," says Lyu Fengding, a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' advisory group.

"Use think tanks to look and address challenges and opportunities," added Lyu, also co-chairman of the International Advisory Committee at the Charhar Institute, a Chinese nongovernmental think tank.

The growing relationship between China and Africa has attracted worldwide attention, and also has been interpreted different ways.

"The deepening Sino-Africa relations have attracted ire and excitement from different fronts, creating confusion and excitement," says Paul Zeleza, a Malawian historian and vice-chancellor of the United States International University-Africa.

"The celebratory rhetoric narrative speaks about the South-South relationship bound by historic struggles against Western imperialism and a mutual desire to move from the periphery of marginalization," Zeleza says.

Second, he says the dramatic focus by China is compared to African colonization, in which the continent provides a cheap source of raw materials and a market for Chinese manufactured goods.

"And last, China is viewed as Africa's biggest development competitor, whose explosive growth and insatiable quest for global markets threatens Africa's industrialization and competitiveness."

The scholars say they intend to develop strategies that will enable Africa to engage with China on a more sure footing. They also would push African countries to increase awareness of the numerous benefits the relationship has brought.

For one, scholars say they intend to emphasize that the relationship is not new. "Under General Zheng He, China made its first contact with the continent," says Odhiambo Ndege, dean of the School of Social, Cultural and Development Studies at Moi University in Kenya.