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Rising China and Africa's development: oil
Rising China and Africa's development: oil

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6 Summary of Session 1

This session posed the key questions about whether China plays a positive or negative role in Africa. Driving China’s engagement is demand for resources to fuel its growth, and this requires China to invest in and trade with a range of countries in the global South where these commodities are produced. The Chinese state has supported this internationalisation of its economy through its diplomacy and financing, which came together under its ‘Going Out’ policy. In the case of oil, China’s three large national oil companies have spearheaded overseas projects mixing equity investments with oil-for-infrastructure deals. The NOCs are tied to the Chinese Communist Party but also increasingly operate through independent commercial decisions, taking account of the specificities of the oil fields and countries where they work. It is to these specificities that you now turn, in the next session.

You can now go to Session 2 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .