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Does China have a geoeconomic strategy towards Zimbabwe? The case of the Zimbabwean natural resource sector

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Abstract

The Chinese party-state and Chinese companies have become increasingly active in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the natural resource sector. Accessing natural resources is assumed to be one of the main goals of both the Chinese government and relevant Chinese companies in resource-rich African countries. In the article, the interplay between Chinese party-state and state-owned enterprises in Zimbabwe is analyzed from the viewpoint of China’s geoeconomic strategy. While existing literature has focused on various facets of China’s Africa policy, details of collaboration between Chinese party-state and corporate actors remain largely unexamined. In the natural resource sector, such collaboration ranges from negotiating access to natural resources to arranging large Chinese-financed projects repaid or collateralized in natural resources. The article analyzes in detail the cases of three companies that have been involved in such arrangements in Zimbabwe’s natural resource sector between 2000 and 2013: NORINCO, AFECC, and CMEC. The central argument advanced in the article is that China’s Ministry of Commerce, Eximbank and CDB have pressured the Zimbabwean government to offer resources as collateral for further Chinese loans, in particular in the mid-2000's. The article concludes that while a geoeconomic strategy seems to be in place, its implementation is hindered by the great variety of actors involved.

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Notes

  1. In the literature, it is sometimes assumed that in particular large SOEs are able and more willing to engage in high-risk investments, because they receive both financial and political support from the Chinese government (Zafar 2007). However, in the case of Zimbabwe, both Chinese mining companies and the Chinese government have been highly wary of the uncertain ownership status of Zimbabwe’s mining concessions and mines, despite assurances that the Chinese would be left out of the country's haphazard indigenization policies.

  2. The article draws on secondary sources as access to primary data has been difficult due to both the opaqueness surrounding Chinese projects in Zimbabwe and the highly politicized nature of the topic of research in the country. In order to relieve some of the reliability issue, triangulation among different sources has been used as much as possible. Thus, conclusions derive from information currently available.

  3. CMEC is a part of the China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach) group, a central-level SOE. NORINCO is owned by China North Industries Group Corporation (50 %) and China South Industries Group (50 %), both of which are central-level SOE's under SASAC management.

  4. In March 2014, an estimated US$3.95 trillion (Xinhua 2014)

  5. The most credible report is offered by (Africa Confidential Africa 2013).

  6. Owned 50–50 by NORINCO and ZMDC (Herald 2006f).

  7. Owned 49–51 by ZMDC and by a NORINCO subsidiary, Wanbao Shinex (Herald 2006f; Africa Confidential 2013).

  8. Owned by NORINCO (60 %), ZMDC (20 %) and Zimbabwe Defense Industry, a defense parastatal (20 %). (Herald 2006f)

  9. The diamond fields in Chiadzwa were officially discovered in 2006 and estimated to hold up to one third of the world’s known diamond deposits (Towriss 2013).

  10. Whether the loan was commercial or concessional has not been made public. The likeliest candidate for financing was a US$102.2 million concessional loan, the agreement for which was signed during Wang’s visit (Herald 2011b).

  11. Whereas Carmody and Owusu (2007) refer to an access to critical natural resources such as oil and natural gas, no such restriction to energy resources is made here.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for funding the research from which this article derives. The article has benefited greatly from discussions at the International Studies Association Annual Convention (2015) in New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as at Political Science research seminar and Centre for East Asian Studies' research seminar, both at the University of Turku, Finland. The author is also grateful for the valuable comments of an anonymous reviewer.

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    Annina Kärkkäinen

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Kärkkäinen, A. Does China have a geoeconomic strategy towards Zimbabwe? The case of the Zimbabwean natural resource sector. Asia Eur J 14, 185–202 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-015-0445-7

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