Briefing Paper

China’s Path to Sustainable Economic Development Through Democracy and Peaceful Coexistence: Any Lessons for Africa?

“This paper is based on a trip made to China by African delegates from nine African countries, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Codesria), the African Union(AU) and inter-region economic network institutions. The purpose was to promote broad and in-depth understanding of China’s development by African intellectuals and to compare experiences of Chinese and African
development. This paper presents an analysis of the information received from the Chinese officials dealing with governance and democracy, peace and security issues and also draws lessons that could be learnt by African governments and the Chinese government if the China-Africa partnership is to improve. Under each subtopic the Chinese experience will be discussed first, and the lessons/opportunities for both Africa and China will be raised where appropriate.”