Events Over Endeavours - Image of the Chinese in Zambia and Angola

The contemporary Chinese engagement in Africa dates back to the 1950's, and it has gained momentum in the last two decades. The Chinese presence in African countries has been getting more and more visible; not only the number of Chinese investments in the area and international agreements has been increasing, but also the size of the Chinese diaspora in the region has grown. China has been looking for new sources of natural resources and markets on which the 'made in China' goods would be welcomed, therefore it spares no efforts to establish and maintain possibly good relationships with Africa, especially with political elites of African countries. At first, the Chinese expansion was supported by the country's image of an older brother, a co-victim of the Western domination, and a example to be followed on the the path leading to development. This image, however, has started to be covered with some spots and shadows, caused by various Chinese activities. In this book we aimed to sketch the image of China and the Chinese in Zambia and Angola, presented by textual media and citizens of these countries, and to trace the most important factors influencing it. Moreover, we brought up some possible consequences of the prevalence of a particular - positive or negative - image for the future development of the Chinese expansion in the region. To obtain the possibly detailed image, we decided to combine quantitative and qualitative analysis of media content with results of our field work conducted in Africa. The study is focused on the extraordinarily important topical problem of the Chinese expansion in Africa. Both the applied innovative methodology and the new approach towards the Sino-African relations, focused on the perception of the Chinese presence in the region, are the factors that distinguish this work. [...] As the authors themselves state, in the summary they try to avoid drawing generalising conclusions; rather, they focus on pointing out the differences in the perception of China and the Chinese between Angola and Zambia. Acknowledging the increasing importance of the perception of China and the Chinese in Africa as an important factor influencing Sino-African relations constitutes the most valuable conclusion of the study. Prof. Dominik Mierzejewski, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Lodz