Author: Chris Alden.

China - Africa scholarship to date is drawn principally from these fields: sociology, area studies (Africa and China , respectively), development studies, history, and international relations. It is naturally informed by the ontologies and epistemological concerns that are an integral part of each of these approaches. For instance, the context of the op ening of a Chinese - owned factory in a peri - urban zone in greater Johannesburg is alternatively seen through the lenses of these fields as ( 1 ) an example of the expansion of sojourner communities into new sectors of economic activity; ( 2 ) a localized remind er of the diversity of Chinese actors engaged in Africa; ( 3 ) a retelling of the “trickster” fables, this time with Chinese business ’ being snared by African agency; ( 4 ) the relocation of Chinese industry, in keeping with “flying geese” theory, in the service of African development; ( 5 ) a reassertion of the global patterns of the past , when the hub was to be found in Asian economies; and ( 6 ) a metaphor for the asymmetric al power relations between China and the African continent. Even these various snaps hots don’t do justice to the obvious diversity within the fields and consequential contrary rendering of these topics. Moreover, there are significant gaps in stories we have yet to tell: Where, for instance, is the work on gender relations? Have we done e nough to understand the Chinese domestic environment and its impact on shaping Chinese engagement at all levels on the continent? Isn’t there more scope for comparative analysis of China - Africa interaction between different regions of China and the contine nt? This would begin to respond to the now conventional criticisms heard at so many conferences that “there is no such thing as ‘China’” or “there are so many ‘Africas"