Joshua Eisenman and David H. Shinn, "China's Relations with Africa: A New Era of Strategic Engagement" (Columbia UP, 2023)

Oct 8, 2025

In this discussion, David H. Shinn, a former U.S. diplomat and expert on China-Africa relations, teams up with Joshua Eisenman, a Notre Dame politics professor specializing in China studies. They explore China's growing strategic engagement with Africa since 2012, emphasizing military cooperation, educational ties, and the significance of the Global South. The duo delves into the nuances of bilateral relations, Chinese soft power through media, and the implications for U.S.-Africa relations as they analyze the evolving geopolitical landscape.

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INSIGHT

Africa As A Global-South Pivot

China elevated Africa because it seeks leadership of the Global South and values Africa's voting bloc.
Growing Chinese presence created security and protection demands for its nationals and investments.

INSIGHT

Layered Diplomatic Reach

China pursues multi-tiered engagement: bilateral, subregional, regional, and global.
Beijing maximizes influence by working African regional bodies like AU, FOCAC, ECOWAS, and SADC.

INSIGHT

Sinocentric Worldview Drives Influence

Beijing frames international order as Sinocentric, with China as the core leader of a 'community of shared future.'
That hierarchy-oriented worldview shapes how China prizes closer ties and influence.

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Since Xi Jinping’s accession to power in 2012, nearly every aspect of China’s relations with Africa has grown dramatically. Beijing has increased the share of resources it devotes to African countries, expanding military cooperation, technological investment, and educational and cultural programs as well as extending its political influence.

China's Relations with Africa: A New Era of Strategic Engagement (Columbia University Press, 2023) examines the full scope of contemporary political and security relations between China and Africa. David H. Shinn and Joshua Eisenman not only explain the specific tactics and methods that Beijing uses to build its strategic relations with African political and military elites but also contextualize and interpret them within China’s larger geostrategy. They argue that the priorities of Chinese leaders―including the conflation of threats to the Communist Party with threats to the country, a growing emphasis on relations in the Global South, and a focus on countering U.S. hegemony―have combined to elevate Africa’s importance among policy makers in Beijing.

Ranging from diplomacy and propaganda to arms sales and space cooperation, from increasingly frequent People’s Liberation Army Navy port calls in Africa to the rising number of African students studying in China, this book marshals extensive and compelling qualitative and quantitative evidence of the deepening ties between China and Africa. Drawing on two decades of systematic data and hundreds of surveys and in-person interviews, Shinn and Eisenman shed new light on the state of China-Africa relations today and consider what the future may hold.

Byline

Nomeh Anthony Kanayo, Ph.D. Candidate in International Relations at Florida International University, with research interest in Africa's diaspora relations, African-China relations, Great power rivalry and IR theories.

Check out my new article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02699

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