Embracing the dragon: African policy responses for engaging China and enhancing regional integration

This paper seeks to shift focus from the debate on the pros and cons of China-Africa relations to arguing that time is auspicious for Africa to develop common policy measures to manage China and making provisional policy proposals on how to do that. The paper’s argument is twofold: (1) the initial African disenchantment over China provides an incentive to compile an African ‘Chinese policy’ to manage China-Africa relations; (2) if widely adopted, an African ‘Chinese policy’ would not only refine a coordinated continental response to China, but also enhance consolidate regional convergence in key policy areas in Africa. This paper proposes pragmatic policies for embracing China – beyond praise or criticism.