Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses Chinas transformative potential for the regional development and integration process in Africa and compares the main differences in Chinas and Western approaches to interregional cooperation (in Africa).

Paper long abstract:

China maintained till a few years ago a neutral position towards regional organizations in Africa and focused on increasing their bilateral relations with the continent. In recent years however the Chinese emphasis on supporting regional integration in Africa increased and new forms of cooperation were established. The interactions with regional and multilateral organizations in Africa are conceptually guided by the pursuit of amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighbors and follow a pragmatic approach, which favors bilateral relations pur-sued in the multilateral framework of the Forum of Chinese African Cooperation (FOCAC). China has established a unique form of interregional cooperation in Africa that challenges the European perception of Interregionalism as a paradigm to promote a "regionalized mul-tilateral" global governance. The relationship between China and the regional- and sub-regional organizations in Africa is categorized as a hybrid form of "asymmetrical Interregionalism" in which a regional organization, such as the African Union, interacts bilaterally with a single power. Building on Heiner Hänggis categorization of Interregionalism the paper investigates the extent to which new paradigms of Interregionalism, promoted by China might impact on regional integration and capacity-building in the African Union.

A framework of systemic functions of Interregionalism has been developed, using perspec-tives from neorealism, liberal institutionalism and constructivism, to describe the different aspects of the China-AU dialogue, comprising internally and externally focused functions of Interregionalism. The empirical findings show that the main functions in the context of sino-african cooperation are intra-regional institution building, political diversification, regional development, security cooperation and collective identity building.

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