Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine Sino-Africa trade relations using the case study of Angola building on Amin's arguments of 'unilateral adjustment' and that the center grows at the expense of the periphery. The case of Angola reveals two major issues that confirm Amin's views.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will examine Sino-Africa trade relations using the case study of Angola building on Amin's arguments of 'unilateral adjustment' and that the center grows at the expense of the periphery. The case of Angola reveals two major issues that confirm Amin's views. Firstly, China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world whilst Angola ranks in the bottom in terms of child mortality, public expenditure on education and in terms of health expenditure. Secondly due to the nature of governance in Angola, she could not secure donors or investments from the Paris Club and/ the IMF. Relations were strained in the mid-1990s when Luanda (former president) repeatedly backed out of IMF reform programs and refused to provide the IMF with basic economic statistics. After the civil war in 2002 she therefore looked to China and got involved with China Sonangol. This company has been accused of having become a State within a State because of its heavy involvement in government. The Angolan government has to adjust and meet the demands of the Chinese. Though his ideas mainly focused on the global north and the global south, the case of China in Africa demonstrates the elasticity and applicability of Amin's views as they become more and more relevant today especially with the rise of the discourse of a Chinese imperialism in Africa.