Author: Jian-Ye Wang, Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané.

AFRICA and China have been trading partners for centuries. But in recent years, the level and inten - sity of their relationship have increased dramati - cally. In the early 1990s, official development aid and government ministries dominated the relationship. Now, however, as the relationship has evolved to center on markets for each other’s exports and Africa’s demand for infrastruc - ture, the Chinese corporate sector and joint ventures have supplanted government agencies. In other words, for Africa, China is now a major market, financier, investor, contractor, and builder—as well as donor . In general, this tighter economic friendship has been wel - comed. After all, reducing poverty tops the global communi - ty’s Millennium Development Goals for 2015. But concerns are increasingly being voiced about how China’s growing presence might affect Africa’s development. Many African nations worry about its possible impact on local industries and employment. And major industrial nations worry about the lack of donor coordination and rebuilding of debt bur - dens in poor countries that have benefited from their recent debt write-offs . t o date, there have been relatively few systematic studies of the growing economic relations between China and Africa. t hat is why the IMF has undertaken a study to quantify— pulling together available information, which is far from complete—China’s economic engagement with Africa. t he hope is that through a better understanding of the relation - ship, we can identify how African countries might best posi - tion themselves to reap the biggest possible gains