China and Africa's Donkey Dilemma

 The Hinrich Foundation published on 20 January 2026 an article titled "Africa's Donkey Trade Moratorium Shapes China's Approach on Global South" by Lauren Johnston.

In 2024, the African Union halted exports to China of African donkey skins, which provide collagen used to manufacture a Chinese traditional medicine known as ejiao.  Chinese demand for African donkey hides reached 4 to 6 million a year, decimating the donkey population on the continent.  

China has responded by increasing internal donkey production, developing other sources outside Africa, and improving the supply chain for producing the traditional Chinese medicine.  

China's Medical Soft Power in Rwanda

 The South China Morning Post published on 29 October 2023 an article titled "China Taps Soft Power to Send Its Best Doctors to Rwanda.  But Is There a 'Commercial Motive'?" by Bernadette Toh, Nanyang Technological University.  

China has been sending medical teams to Rwanda since 1982.  They have been the core of China's foreign aid to Rwanda and the most visible evidence of its soft power.  Chinese traditional medicine has also been well received on a continent that makes frequent use of its own version of home grown medical treatment.

China Daily OpEd Calls for New Approach to Foreign Aid

China Daily published on 28 July 2020 an oped titled "New Landscape for China's Foreign Aid" by Sun Jingying, Institute of World Economics and Politics and the National Institute for Global Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The oped is significant as China Daily is an organ of the Communist Party of China.

The author urges that because of Sino-US friction and the relentless spread of COVID-19, China needs to adopt a more proactive approach to foreign aid.  The author makes three recommendations.

First, China should focus its foreign aid on vaccine development, traditional Chinese medicine, and productive investment, and actively respond to demands for prevention and control assistance, production development, and economic recovery in the post-pandemic era.

Second, following withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization, China should participate in the design of a global health governance system.

Third, China should help alleviate countries' debt burden, especially those in Africa, by focusing on debt relief, boosting their economies, and increasing their incomes. 

Can Chinese Traditional Medicine Take Hold in Africa?

Development Reimagined posted on 29 June 2020 a story titled "Traditional Chinese Medicine Is Gaining Traction in Africa. Can It also Help in the Fight Against COVID-19?"

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is far less popular in Africa than traditional African healing and modern medicine.  African traditional medicine is a holistic health care approach organized into three categories: divination, spiritualism, and herbalism.  Unlike TCM, African traditional medicine is learned from healers through oral communication because the knowledge is not written down.  TCM is taught in medical schools across the world, making it more accessible.  Nevertheless, in the age of COVID-19, China's financial and logistical support of TCM makes it a future competitor in Africa. 

Somalia's Healthcare System

The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies and City University of Mogadishu published a major study in May 2020 titled "Somalia's Healthcare System: A Baseline Study & Human Capital Development Strategy" by Ali Abdullahi Warsame.

The study looks at the state of healthcare in Somalia as it relates to human capital.  It offers an analysis of current challenges and suggests remedial solutions for system-wide recovery strategies. 

China, Africa, and the Pangolin Trade

The Washington Post published on 21 July 2018 an article titled "China's Push to Export Traditional Medicine May Doom the Magical Pangolin" by Simon Denyer.

The pangolin is the world's most trafficked mammal. A million of them are thought to have been poached from the wild in Asia and Africa in just a decade. Trade in the eight species of pangolin is illegal. Demand for them comes primarily from China and Vietnam, where the scales of the pangolin are used in traditional medicine. As a result, the pangolin is fast disappearing from the jungles of Asia and, increasingly, from Africa.

TRAFFIC published in December 2017 a study of pangolin trafficking titled "The Global Trafficking of Pangolins: A Comprehensive Summary of Seizures and Trafficking Routes from 2010-2015."

The report noted that large quantity pangolin shipments come from Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Guinea and Kenya. The primary African countries through which pangolins are trafficked are Nigeria, Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia, Equatoriak Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Togo.

China: Reports from Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Cameroon

The University of the Witwatersrand China-Africa Reporting Project has published 4 new reports on Chinese activities in Africa. They are:

--Chinese Mining Company's Recklessness Costs Villagers [in Zimbabwe] by Zimbabwean journalist Sofia Mapuranga published on 23 May 2016 in Newsday.

--Chinese Investment Transforming Rural Fishing Communities in Uganda by Ugandan journalist Francis Mugerwa published on 18 May 2016 in Oil in Uganda.

--China-aided Bamboo Agri-business Paying Off in Uganda by Ugandan journalist Frederick Mugira published on 9 May 2016 in New Vision.

--Chinese Traditional Healing Thriving in Cameroon by Cameroonian journalist Arison Tamfu published on 2 May 2016 in the Cameroon Daily Journal.

Comparing African and Chinese Traditional Medicine

The China-Africa Reporting Project at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg reprinted a 12 February 2016 online posting titled "Qi Flows from Beijing to Gaborone" by Baboki Kayawe, a staffer at Mmegi Online. The reprint appears as Part I, Part II, and Part III.

This in-depth journalistic account looks at the history and development of traditional medicine in Africa and China, the relevance of Chinese traditional medicine to Africa, and the need to integrate modern Western medicine.

China's Engagement in Global Health

The Lancet, a medical journal that began in London in 1823, published on 30 August 2014 an informative article titled "China's Distinctive Engagement in Global Health" by Peilong Liu, Department of Global Health, and a number of other experts.  You can register for free to access the entire 10-page article.  The 30 August issue is devoted to health and medical issues concerning China.

The authors note that China has made rapid progress in four key areas of global health.  China's health aid deploys medical teams, constructs facilities, donates drugs and equipment, trains personnel, and supports malaria control mainly in Africa and Asia.  China's approach to global health is distinctive and based on its unique history, comparative strength, and policies driven by several governmental ministries. 

La Medecine Chinoise au Mali

Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme published in February 2014 a study titled "La Medecine Chinoise au Mali.  Les Economies d'Un Patrimoine Culturel" by Francoise Bourdarias, Jean-Pierre Dozon, and Frederic Obringer.  It offers a history of the evolution of traditional Chinese medicine in China, a review of the dynamics of local traditional medicine in sub-Saharan Africa and a study of Chinese traditional medicine in Mali. 

Ethiopian Medical History

The non-governmental organization, People to People, has just released The Manual of Ethiopian Medical History by Enawgaw Mehari, Kinfe Gebeyehu and Zergabachew Asfaw.  The purpose of the publication is to teach the future generation of Ethiopian medical students and health care professionals about Ethiopia's medical history.

Mekele University and Bahir Dar University have reportedly agreed to incorporate the study into their medical education curriculum.