Power of engagement

China's rich experience can help Africa take the right development path, says expert

Though China lags Western countries in Africa, it still has enough room to catch up, and outpace them with its unique engagement modalities, says Liu Hongwu, director of the Center for African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University.

Liu, an African expert, says that though Western countries made early inroads into Africa with Christian missionaries, it is China that is now setting the tone for future engagements in the continent with its unique development initiatives.

To better understand contemporary Africa and the China-Africa relationship, one need to only look at the various exchanges between the two sides in the past, says Liu, who is also the director of the African Studies Center at Yunnan University.

"Based on my knowledge about Africa, I can say that most of the current theories and thoughts about African studies can be refined. At the same time, we can also identify the correct political and economic systems for African nations if we analyze the experiences of China and other developing nations," he says.

Part of the problem in treading such a path lies in the lack of strong fundamentals, suitable research facilities and the absence of original philosophic thought.

Born in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous region of southwestern China's Yunnan province, which also has the largest number of ethnic groups in China, Liu realized early on how important first-hand observation was in researching and understanding a new culture.

"It is important for the younger generation of Africanists from China to go to Africa and observe and experience it first-hand, as books cannot tell you everything is there to know about the continent, its people or culture," he says.

"When I went to Lagos, Nigeria, in 1990 as a student, I remember that I was full of excitement and enthusiasm, as I felt that I finally had a chance to feel the happiness, anger and sadness, the culture, politics, and economic systems of Africa.

"Everything was new and comparable in those days. Observing them closely, I realized that I could relate to most of the things with a strong Chinese perspective."

Liu says that young Africans should think about, theorize on and organize what they see on the ground, and then use the findings to guide and direct Sino-African relations on to a strong path.

"But before going to Africa, it is also important to have a good understanding of one's own culture and academic traditions," he says. "Only then can a person find out what the differences really are."

Liu says that it is vital for China to nurture more Africanists, as it would provide a strong foundation for better ties.

"It is important for China, as a growing power, to continue its learning process. Africa is one of the most important civilizations in the world and China has to learn it from its own perspective. It used to focus on the West or the United States, but now it's time to complete its 'world knowledge' by moving on to others," he says.

China's growing need to research Africa is also based on practical interests. Liu says development in both Africa and China in the future demands a better understanding from both sides.

Another reason for China to consolidate its relationship with Africa by learning more comes from the fact that Africa is an ideal example for China to prove that it is not a threat to anyone and its development is beneficial to other nations, he says.

"China's development is actually a chance for Africa and the whole world. Africa's cooperation with China could be its own development platform and impetus, by which China could be proved as not a threat, but an opportunity to the world."

He says academic traditions and research habits between China and the West are not complementary so China should translate and learn more about the Western works on African studies.

"Because of the unique socio-historical background, the West has been a dominant power in the current international system, and Africa used to be its colony, so it's natural for them to start researching Africa earlier than anyone else," he says.

"African linguistics and culture was partially incorporated into the Western system of learning. So learning Africa sometimes equals learning, for instance, about American African studies."

China's Africa studies need to continue covering areas they now cover and take in new areas that have been let out.

"We have enough space to develop our advantages by sending more researchers for field studies in Africa," he says. "In my opinion, we can start building the competitiveness by researching the changes in African rural areas."

He says most of the progress that Africa achieved in the early years was due to strong Western influence. That has, however, changed now, and big changes are occuring in rural Africa that have gone unnoticed in the West.

"More importantly, we can compare the changes in rural China and in Africa, as both of us had similar historical starting points, but different development paths," Liu says.

"China has been independent, but closed in the early stage. Later it opened up and started the reform process. Africa, on the other hand, still continues to be enormously influenced by the Western world.

"Though there are very few Africanists from China who can share a platform with Western scholars, the situation is fast changing," he says.

"China has been trying to hold more academic conferences and symposiums to bring together China, Western and African intelligentsia to talk and communicate. Similarly, many Western scholars are now undertaking field research in China, which means they have started to value the voices and perspectives from China."

But to contribute more influential thoughts to African studies and China-African relations research, it is important for China to establish its own Afronology, which is different from African studies.

"It's not a simple accumulation of research from various subjects, but a discipline that has its own research objective, purpose, concepts, research tools and other subject foundations," he says. "Zhejiang Normal University launched China's first master's degree in Afronology last year and is set to welcome more students this year."

To further support and guide the booming China-African relationship, China should have its own Africa theoretical strategy, apart from the current policy-based strategy.

"But this requires at least 20 Chinese universities hosting African studies centers and full-time dedicated researchers," he says. "But the situation is far from satisfactory as many African studies centers are just nominal and lacking in funding and facilities."

Such efforts need consistent and stable financial investment and support from the government, as African studies in China cannot survive on foreign support alone.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/28/2013 page32)