Routledge has just published a book titled China's Negotiating Mindset and Strategies: Historical and Cultural Foundations edited by Guy Oliver Faure and I. William Zartman.
Chapter 21, which I authored, is titled "China's Negotiating Strategy in Africa." The other chapters cover a wide range of topics on China's strategy for negotiating business relations and geopolitics.
The Melbourne Asia Review published on 2 June 2025 an article titled "Chinese Employers in Botswana and Their Impact on Local Workers" by Liang Chen.
An estimated 15,000 Chinese work and live in Botswana. This article is based on interviews with 34 Chinese shopkeepers/managers and 19 Batswana employees. There is considerable tension in the workplace because Chinese shopkeepers prefer to hire workers from Zambia and Zimbabwe rather than those from Botswana who are seen as inefficient. For their part, Batswana see the Chinese shopkeepers/managers as excessively strict.
Made in China Journal published on 5 February 2025 an article titled "Global China and African Journalistic Agency: A Relational Perspective" by Hangwei Li, German Institute of Development and Sustainability.
The author provides an overview of the relational perspective to understand African media interactions and their
The Political and Legal Anthropology Review published on 2 December 2022 a study titled "Trials of Trustworthiness between Ethiopian Lawyers and Chinese Clients" by Miriam Driessen.
The study sheds light on the cultural differences between Ethiopians and Chinese as they interact on legal issues. There is inherent mistrust on both sides between Ethiopian lawyers and Chinese clients. Trusting Ethiopian professionals could upset the precarious balance of power in the racialized corporate hierarchy that Chinese managers sought to protect.
The Journal of Contemporary China just published a study titled "The Domestic Mechanisms of China's Vertical Multilateralism: The FOCAC and the 16+1 Format Case Studies" by Dominik Mierzejewski, Bartosz Kowalski and Jaroslaw Jura.
The study concludes that China's engagement in multilateral cooperation with Africa and Central and Eastern Europe has to a considerable extent, mirrored mechanisms in China's domestic governance: generating enthusiasm and mobilization through slogan politics and informal political networks, which are influenced by the process of centralization of power and the coordination of horizontal competition with Beijing in a dominant position. However, due to different cultural backgrounds, the political landscape, and the economic environment, the mechanisms of the FOCAC and China-CEE cooperation are implemented differently and with different intensity to those in Chinese internal affairs.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 7 December 2021 an analysis titled "Guanxi: Power, Networking and Influence in China-Africa Relations" by Paul Nantulya.
China-Africa relations thrive on interpersonal ties of mutual dependence, obligations, and reciprocity that African elites tend to skew to their benefit at the expense of the public interest.
