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Working for shared prosperity

By Yuan Wu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-26 16:55

Chinese enterprises in Africa have greatly helped improve itsinfrastructure and provided employment opportunities

Even though China failed to qualify for the 19th World Cup in South Africa, it managed to mark its presence through a green energy enterprise, whose advertisements were widely showcased during the first-ever football tourney in the African continent.

During its sponsorship of the month-long event, Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Ltd, brought the Asian nation under the spotlight of a global audience by being the first from China to qualify for an advertisement spot in the stadiums during the tournament.

The Yingli Solar logo was displayed on electronic perimeter-boards for 30 seconds at a time, or eight minutes each game in Chinese as well as English, during all of its 64 games. The Chinese company was also allowed to showcase its green energy products near the stadiums.

Yingli Solar's World Cup sponsorship may have given Africans a fresh opportunity to learn about China, but a large number of other enterprises from the country are already there, contributing enormously to the economic and social development of the underdeveloped continent.

Statistics show that Sino-African cooperation contributed more than 20 percent to Africa's economic growth in recent years. As enterprises have replaced sovereign nations to become Africa's main investor, China's investment in the continent has also become increasingly diversified.

Currently, there are more than 2,180 Chinese enterprises engaged in nearly 8,000 projects - covering power, port, airport, highway, hospital, and solar and wind power projects - in Africa.

Given the comparatively adverse investment environment in Africa, most Chinese enterprises based there have encountered a series of difficulties. Yet, to realize their Africa dreams, these entrepreneurs have tried to overcome these problems resolutely and been successful in jointly developing the region with the host countries.

However, certain Western media outlets, which have turned a blind eye to the great contributions made by Chinese enterprises to local economic and social development, have gone all out to defame their image. Their slander has mainly focused on Chinese enterprises' alleged lack of effort to localize their staff, undertake social responsibility endeavors and do more to protect the local environment.

All Western vilifications, however, have been completely contrary to the facts. Take staff localization. Many Chinese enterprises in Africa employ more than 60 percent of staff from local regions.

David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, too has talked about the high degree of staff localization done by Chinese enterprises.

Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Ltd (ZTE) ventured into Africa in 1995. The listed Chinese company has continuously expanded its business there over the past decade and had set up 15 training bases in South Africa, Angola and other African nations by January 2007, annually training about 4,500 specialized professionals. With two-thirds of its 1,100 staff employed from local regions, ZTE is one company that has successfully realized its localization goal.

Another example is the Tanzanian subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Engineering Group. With a workforce of 5,000 laborers being employed annually from local regions, the company has not only lowered its costs but has also become very popular among local residents. Its localization strategy has helped expand employment opportunities and trained the necessary professionals in Africa.

Undeniably, Chinese enterprises still have a long way to go before realizing their internationalization target, and they are expected to encounter a variety of new problems while doing business in African countries.

At the same time, more and more Chinese enterprises have understood the precise nature of their problems and tried hard to resolve them. Chinese enterprises have also realized that they should perform a certain social role besides economic performances.

Just as China has repeatedly emphasized, Sino-African cooperation has long been on an equal and mutually beneficial basis and can serve as a good example for positive South-South Cooperation.

Investment by Chinese enterprises has driven African economic growth and promoted China's ever-deepening cooperation with the continent. Their investment has not only improved local infrastructure but has also boosted local people's living conditions.

By the end of September 2006, 79 percent of projects by the Export-Import Bank of China in African countries were related to infrastructure construction. At the same time, the factories that China's enterprises built in local regions have employed a significant number of local workers, helping those countries train the necessary personnel for management and technological duties.

Increasing investment from China has also offered these countries some much-needed funds and raised the distribution efficiency of investment and resources.

Globalization has turned into an irreversible trend since the end of the Cold War, accelerating interactions and mergers of different cultures and concepts. Africa-based Chinese enterprises will play a big role in promoting mutual understanding between the Chinese and African peoples and further booming Sino-African cooperation.

The author is Assistant Professor with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.