Author: Ephraim Okoro, Philemon Oyewole.

Trade and economic relations between China and Africa have a protracted history and have developedincrementally over the course of time. Consequently, increasing numbers of Chinese businesses and entrepreneurshave sought partnerships with African companies with the aim of establishing strategic partnerships, collaborations,and joint ventures. In recent years, these Sino-African trading relations have been the subject of consistent debateand scrutiny, attracting positive and negative analyses from scholars and practitioners across disciplines. Somestudies questioned China’s motives in Africa’s markets, and others viewed with suspicion the structure of Sino-Africa’s bilateral trading engagements. Conducting an extensive literature survey of related sources andemploying content analysis of recent and current data (2000-2009), the paper examined institutional and academicpublications pertaining to Sino-African relationship. It determines imbalance in the structure of Sino-Africanbilateral trade, negative impact on domestic economic development, and competitive disadvantage in Africanmarketplaces. Policy implications of these findings were provided as well as recommendations for mutual trade benefits and global strategic investments