ABSTRACT

The recent rapid growth in China’s involvement in Africa is being promoted by both Chinese and African leaders as being conducted in a spirit of cooperation, friendship and equality. In the media and informally, however, a different, less harmonious picture emerges. This book explores how China and Africa really regard each other, how official images are manufactured, and how informal images are nevertheless shaped and put forward. The book covers a wide range of areas where China-Africa exchange exists, including diplomacy, technological cooperation, sport, culture and arts exchange. The book also discusses the historical development of the relationship and how it is likely to develop going forward.

part |25 pages

Introduction and context

chapter 1|13 pages

Introduction

Images, nation branding and news framing

chapter 2|10 pages

Beyond the drama

Sino-African ties in perspective

part 1|46 pages

Building images through cultural cooperation and diplomacy

section A|45 pages

Historical contexts

chapter 3|22 pages

Revolutionary friendship

Representing Africa during the Mao Era

chapter 4|22 pages

Giving ‘prominence to politics’

African sportsmen visit China in the early Cultural Revolution

section B|74 pages

Contemporary relations

chapter 5|23 pages

Twenty-first century Sino-African cultural cooperation

Exploring reciprocity

chapter 6|15 pages

Confucius Institutes in Africa

Culture and language without controversy?

chapter 7|16 pages

China corner

Chinese book donations to Africa

chapter 8|18 pages

China’s digital public diplomacy towards Africa

Actors, messages and audiences

part 2|101 pages

Building images through media representation and communication