Cameroon–China relations

Bilateral relations
China-Cameroonian relations
Map indicating locations of Cameroon and China

Cameroon
China

China and Cameroon established bilateral relations on March 26, 1971.[1]: 347  Cameroon is an adherent to the One China Policy.[2]

Political relations

Embassy of Cameroon in China

In the 1960s, China supported armed struggle by the Union des Populations du Cameroon (UPC) against the government of Ahmadou Ahidjo.[1]: 23  In 1970, the Ahidjo government defeated the UPC.[1]: 23  In 1971, Cameroon established relations with China.[1]: 23 

In the 2000s, leading politicians paid state visits to and from each country; these included Cameroonian President Paul Biya's visit for a conference in 2006 and Hu Jintao's visit to Cameroon in 2007.[2]

Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi visited Cameroon on 12 January 2014.[3]

Cameroon was one of 53 countries, that in June 2020, backed the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations.[4]

Economic development

Since the first Forum on China Africa Cooperation in 2000, Beijing has successfully delivered $2.4 billion in development finance to Cameroon.[5] $87 million of that total falls under the OECD-DAC criteria for Official Development Assistance. Major projects executed by the Chinese government in Cameroon include:

  • Construction of the Kribi Deep Seaport funded by a FCFA 207,270 billion loan from the Exim Bank of China[6]
  • A FCFA 243 billion loan from China Exim bank for construction of the Memve'ele hydroelectric Dam in Nyabizan[7]
Memve'ele hydroelectric Dam Project
  • Construction of a malaria research center at Yaounde's Hospital of Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Pediatrics[8]

Yearly trade topped 854 million US dollars in 2008, before dropping to 813 million US dollars in 2009 due to the global recession.[2]

Criticism

In the 2000s, some in Cameroon considered the economic relationship to be a form of neo-colonialism; this was mainly due to a perception that Chinese traders flooded the Cameroonian market with cheap but extremely fragile manufactured goods, which stymied the development of local industries.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Shinn, David H.; Eisenman, Joshua (2023). China's Relations with Africa: a New Era of Strategic Engagement. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-21001-0.
  2. ^ a b c Backgrounder: Relations between China, Cameroon People's Daily Online, March 23, 2010
  3. ^ "Chinese Foreign Minister Due In Cameroon Soon". CameroonOnline.org. 2015-01-05. Archived from the original on 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  4. ^ Lawler, Dave (2 July 2020). "The 53 countries supporting China's crackdown on Hong Kong". Axios. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  5. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection[permanent dead link]. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.
  6. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. Project 350. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.
  7. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. Project 289. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.
  8. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. Project 22850. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.
  9. ^ China Invades Country With Cheap, Fragile Goods AllAfrica.com via postnewsline.com, 28 August 2008

Further reading

  • Amin, Julius A. (2015). "Sino-Cameroon Relations: A Foreign Policy of Pragmatism". African Studies Review. 58 (3): 171–189. ISSN 0002-0206.
  • Anatole, Daka; Yijie, Wang; Liang, Hu; Vanessa, Mbajon Chimi Tuatsop (2021-12-01). "China-Cameroon Agricultural Cooperation: Challenges of Agricultural Development in Cameroon". Journal of African Foreign Affairs. 8 (3): 49–72. doi:10.31920/2056-5658/2021/v8n3a3.
  • Assembe-Mvondo, S; Cerutti, P O; Putzel, L; Eba'a Atyi, R (2016). "What Happens When Corporate Ownership Shifts to China? A Case Study on Rubber Production in Cameroon". The European Journal of Development Research. 28 (3): 465–478. doi:10.1057/ejdr.2015.13. ISSN 0957-8811
  • Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2015). "China–Cameroon relations: Fortunes and limits of an old political complicity". South African Journal of International Affairs. 22 (1): 67–91. doi:10.1080/10220461.2015.1014930. ISSN 1022-0461.
  • De Prince Pokam, Hilaire; Hall, Jonathan (2011). "Chinese Medicine in Cameroon". China Perspectives. 3 (87): 51–58. ISSN 2070-3449.
  • Khan, Sunday Aninpah; Baye, Francis Menjo (2008). "China-Africa Economic Relations: The Case of Cameroon". Report Submitted to the African Economic Research Consortium.
  • Khan, Sunday A (2014). "The Emergence of China in Cameroon: Trade Impact and Evolution of Trade Configuration". In Moyo, Theresa (ed), Trade and Industrial Development in Africa: Rethinking Strategy and Policy, pp. 99-120. CODESRIA.
  • Ndjio, B. (2014). "'Magic body' and 'cursed sex': Chinese sex workers as 'bitch-witches' in Cameroon". African Affairs. 113 (452): 370–386. doi:10.1093/afraf/adu042. ISSN 0001-9909.
  • Nguepjouo, Diderot (2017). "The spatialisation of China's presence in Cameroon: The case of the mining sector". The Extractive Industries and Society. 4 (3): 513–524. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2017.06.004. ISSN 2214-790X.
  • Nordtveit, Bjørn H. (2011). "An emerging donor in education and development: A case study of China in Cameroon". International Journal of Educational Development. 31 (2): 99–108. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2010.01.004. ISSN 0738-0593.
  • Tsounkeu, Martin (2011). Mapping Chinese development assistance in Africa: An analysis of the experiences of Cameroon. Harare: African Forum and Network on Debt and Development. ISBN 978-0-7974-4576-5.
  • Vanessa, Mbajon (2019). "The Economic Cooperation between Cameroon and China: Hub on Infrastructure and Investment Projects 2007-2018". Journal of African Union Studies. 8 (3): 95–113. ISSN 2050-4292.
  • Vanessa, Mbajon Chimi Tuatsop; Zou, Xiaolong (2020). "China's Foreign Aid to Cameroon: Perception from Non-Governmental Organizations 2007-2017". Journal of African Foreign Affairs. 7 (1): 49–70. ISSN 2056-564X.
  • Weng, Lingfei; Margules, Chris (2022). "Challenges with formalizing artisanal and small-scale mining in Cameroon: Understanding the role of Chinese actors". The Extractive Industries and Society. 9: 101046. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2022.101046. ISSN 2214-790X.
  • Weng, Lingfei; Sayer, Jeffrey A.; Xue, Lan (2017). "Will China redefine development patterns in Africa? Evidence from Cameroon". The Extractive Industries and Society. 4 (3): 506–512. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2017.04.004. ISSN 2214-790X.
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