Economy

Chinese tuition offers solutions for Africans

By Karen Yip (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-21 09:44

When China rules

All these bode well for China and the Chinese. The education scholarships to foreign officials and international recognition translate into better relationships, a better image and better understanding.

This is especially critical to China because the country needs to build a good image abroad, says Lan. Monetary assistance aside, China has granted aid to Africa in the form of training for business skills development such as rice planting and managing textile shops.

While aid, in any form, is a public relations tool to create a positive image for a donating country, he says: "The West has overestimated China's aid to Africa. China has been consistent in its aid to Africa since 1956. Why is the West making a big fuss now?"

American academic Deborah Brautigam wrote in her book The Dragon's Gift that while China's aid to Africa is cloaked in ambiguity, the West should stop believing in myths and start engaging with the reality of a rapidly changing world order.

Calling on decades of personal experience as an observer of Africa and Asia, Brautigam writes about Angola, where China has helped build hospitals, schools, irrigation systems, roads and infrastructure.

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Unlike Western donors, which tend to have their favored nations, China has given assistance to almost every country in sub-Saharan Africa. Chinese aid workers and experts in Guinea live in similar style to the locals, unlike Western aid donors, she writes.

China's image abroad is reflected by its lack of experience in international engagement. As China becomes more integrated into the global community and becomes more confident, its international image will continue to improve, says Anthony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University.

Not resting on its laurels, the school is progressing to offer courses to enhance soft skills. "More recently, we have come to realize that training in management and public administration are equally important," says Lan.

Saich adds that China can learn best practices from abroad and this will help it achieve modernity - but what is most important is that the country finds its own path to modernity.

"It can learn from outside but those lessons have to fit well with China's own culture, history and institutions," he said.