Technology transfer in China–Africa relation: myth or reality

Abstract

Technology is one of the serious bottlenecks in African industrialisation. In the discourse about China–Africa relations, technology transfer is one of the less studied subjects. The paper starts at defining ‘technology transfer’. Technological transfer (TT) is an action that the holder of the technology passes the technology of production, management and sale with its rights to others through various ways. In China’s expression, technical cooperation (TC) is usually used instead of expressing the same meaning, since it is significant for China to promote African’s self-development capacity covering various fields as industry, agriculture, management, education and social sectors. The study is intended to study TT in the history of China–Africa relations. The argument is that since the issue of the Eight Principles for Economic Aid and Technical Assistance to Other Countries in 1964, TT has existed in China–Africa cooperation, in different forms, or has different terms i.e. technical assistance, knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing. Yet, there is a large room for the improvement for Chinese companies both in scale and depth if common development is to be achieved.

Keywords:

• Technological transfer
• knowledge sharing
• China
• Africa

Notes

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article

Notes on contributor

Anshan Li (PhD. Toronto), professor of School of International Studies and Director of Center for African Studies at Peking University. His publications include FOCAC Twelve Years Later: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward (Uppsala, 2012), A History of Overseas Chinese in Africa to 1911 (New York, 2012), Chinese Medical Cooperation in Africa: With Special Emphasis on the Medical Teams and Anti-Malaria Campaign (Uppsala, 2011), British Rule and Rural Protest in Southern Ghana (New York, 2002), etc.

Notes

1 Technical cooperation means that China dispatches experts to give technical guidance on production, operation or maintenance of complete projects after they are completed, and train local people as managerial and technical personnel; to help developing countries grow crops, raise animals and process products on a trial basis, and teach local people China’s agricultural technologies and traditional handicraft skills; and to help developing countries in inspection, survey, planning, research and consultation work of some industries.

2 To search Baidu by using ‘China and Africa’ as key word, there are 2.61 million items, by using ‘Africa and China’, 2.55 million items, by ‘FOCAC’, 442000 items.

3 Mr Antoine Roger Lokongo, PhD student at Peking University, informed me about the fact. I could not believe this and he provided me with the source. On 16 October 2013, when I delivered a talk on ’History of China–Africa relations’ in Seminar of Young Diplomats of African French Speaking Countries held by Peking University, the information was confirmed by two young diplomats from Cote d’Ivoire.

4 Salim Ahmed Salim is former Prime Minister of Tanzania. When he campaigned for UN General Secretary in 1981, he was opposed by the US delegation16 times, simply because he took the lead in the celebrating dance in UN Assembly Hall after the announcement of the result of the vote on China’s return to UN on 25 October 1971. China, at the same time, opposed the candidate supported by the US for 16 times.

5 118 Zimbabwean citizens and 11 Zimbabwean companies are in the list of sanction.

6 There are other African leaders who have also voiced their favorable opinion of the option.

7 TAZARA is 1860.5 km long. The construction started in October 1970 and finished in July 1976.

8 Two volumes of selected speeches by President Nyerere were translated into Chinese and published by East China Normal University in 2015.

9 As a visiting scholar at The University of Hong Kong at the time, Prof. Philip Snow sent me this book as a gift in 2006 when I was invited by Prof. Kenneth King to give a speech on China-Africa relations there.

10 Philip Snow gave a general survey of Chinese assistance to Africa in a chapter entitled ‘The Poor Help the Poor’ in his book The Star Raft, pp.144-185.

11 Jiang Xiang is a diplomat who served in several African countries and as Ambassador in Burkina Faso.

12 She sent me her book in Bamako when China-DAC Project invited her to a conference on ‘China-Africa Experience Sharing in Agriculture’ in 2011 in Mali.

13 Human resource development cooperation means ‘China, through multilateral or bilateral channels, runs different kinds of research and training programs for government officials, education programs, technical training programs, and other personnel exchange programs for developing countries’.