China’s extensive engagement with the African continent has been widely acknowledged and emphasised by scholars and politicians globally. The main focus of this attention has been directed towards the financial dimension of the Sino-African relationship, although Chinese engagement with Africa also has an educational dimension that will play a vital role in fostering long-term Sino-African relations.

The number of African students pursuing their studies abroad has increased from 284,762 in 2005 to 326,597 in 2009 (a 14.69% increase), due to increased levels of education combined with demographic growth.⁽²⁾ Primary study destinations for African students have traditionally been the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other European countries with colonial connections to the continent.⁽³⁾ However, a new trend in African students’ choice of study destination has emerged with the increasing Chinese presence on the continent, including the government’s scholarship programme.⁽⁴⁾

Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Sino-African educational cooperation has developed rapidly. Through FOCAC, China offers a wide range of short-term training courses, which, by June of 2010, have seen the provision of training programmes for over 30,000 Africans,⁽⁵⁾ and an increasing number of African students are selecting China as their preferred study destination. This paper discusses educational cooperation between China and Africa, through historic and current accounts of this cooperation and the perspectives of some African students studying in China through the government scholarship programme. The paper concludes with a discussion of the programme’s long-term impacts.

Anti-African sentiments: A brief history of Sino-African educational cooperation

Sino-African educational cooperation began in 1956 and included only a few countries with which China had established diplomatic relations, such as Kenya, Egypt, Uganda and Cameroon. Before the eruption of the Cultural Revolution ⁽⁶⁾ that isolated China from the outside world, only a handful of African students were pursuing their studies in China. In the early 1970s, China attempted to re-establish its relations with the outside world and the number of exchange students increased, and by 1996 approximately 4,570 African students were studying in China;⁽⁷⁾ a dramatic increase, at least in Shanghai, according to Huang Liu and Ming Feng, two elderly locals interviewed.⁽⁸⁾ Between 1983 and 1986, a period in which the Chinese aid budget was limited, the Chinese Government increased the number of scholarships granted to African students from 400 to 1,600,⁽⁹⁾ indicating the importance of furthering cooperation with the rest of the world through education.

The relationship between the African students and the Chinese locals was, to some extent, tense due to racial prejudices on the part of the Chinese – even in metropolitan cities like Shanghai that had been exposed to foreigners more than any other region in China. Liu and Feng stated that Shanghainese and the wider Chinese public perceived African students as being uncivilised.⁽¹⁰⁾ Feng added that this was exemplified by African students’ “aggressive” approach towards Chinese women and their low levels of education.⁽¹¹⁾

Racial prejudices towards African students intensified especially when African students engaged with Chinese women. Shanghai locals recall one incident in particular, in which a young Chinese woman became pregnant by an African student who had left China as soon as he completed his studies – although being aware of the woman’s situation. In an attempt to rectify the situation, the woman married a Chinese man, and when the baby was born with a darker complexion, the husband filed for divorce.⁽¹²⁾ This event became well-known among Shanghai residents, who blamed the African student(s) for being irresponsible and for “using Chinese girls.”⁽¹³⁾ Anti-African sentiments further intensified, resulting in several violent clashes between Chinese and African students in Shanghai. Chinese students and the wider public began referring to Africans as “black devils.” Liu, a former Shanghai government official, stated that Chinese students mobilised, going to the African students’ residential areas to fight – resulting in several clashes. Liu noted that these events never became public record, because the Shanghai Government wanted to prevent anti-African sentiments from spreading nationally.⁽¹⁴⁾

In the former Chinese capital city of Nanjing in December 1988, China witnessed the biggest anti-African protest in its history. Only months earlier, a new university regulation imposed a more stringent registration procedure for visiting guests at the foreign students’ dormitory. At Hohai University in Nanjing, this new regulation was implemented strictly in dormitories where African students lived. A university employee expressed that the policy was part of an effort by the university “to stop African students exchanging obscenities with Chinese women.”⁽¹⁵⁾ Consequently, the new restrictions outraged African students, leading to escalated mistrust and tension on both sides. After a quarrel between university personnel and African students, Chinese students and workers surrounded the African students’ dormitory shouting “black devils” and other curses, and destroying property. African students became frightened for their safety and attempted to leave Nanjing to seek protection at their embassies in Beijing. However, the local authority wanted to avoid these protests becoming a national issue and prevented the approximately 150 African students from boarding trains out of the city.⁽¹⁶⁾

Aside from differences in dating habits, African students would receive money from the Chinese Government for their studies in China, whilst the Chinese students (and the general public) were denied this type of support from their government. The resulting dissatisfaction with this government policy increased grievances among the economically marginalised Chinese young intellectuals and university students, which was channelled towards African scholarship students.⁽¹⁷⁾ Feng highlighted this frustration, saying “African students showed off, and attracted Chinese girls by saying how much money they had. This irritated Chinese boys.”⁽¹⁸⁾

Anti-African sentiments among the Chinese population were thus clearly prevalent in the late 1980s, accompanied by outbursts of physical fighting and protests in China’s major cities. The motivations for the clashes between Chinese and African students during the 1980s demonstrate the multi-faceted and symbolic nature of past tensions which cannot be classified solely as acts of racism, highlighting the complexities involved in past, and current, Sino-African educational cooperation.

Education paving the way for further cooperation

Educational cooperation is clearly very important to China. The government’s scholarship programme, which provides more academic scholarships to Africa than any other nation,⁽¹⁹⁾ was incorporated into FOCAC and, in 2006, China doubled its government scholarships from 2,000 to 4,000,⁽²⁰⁾ promising in 2009 to reach 5,500 by the year 2012.⁽²¹⁾ The number of African scholarship students increased from 2,757 in 2005 to approximately 12,000 in 2013.⁽²²⁾

Language training has had a central role in educational cooperation. Due to limited access to English speaking lecturers and programmes at Chinese universities, African scholarship students are usually enrolled in Chinese taught programmes.⁽²³⁾ Scholarship students who have no prior knowledge of any Chinese language are often offered a one year language training course to overcome any language barriers before they begin their original programme. Nonetheless, one year of language training is usually not enough to understand classes given in Chinese. Consequently, the majority of these students record their lectures and have them translated by their Chinese friends.⁽²⁴⁾

Language barriers affect African students’ motivation to continue pursuing their studies in China after receiving the scholarship. Interviews conducted by the author with several students revealed that some of their classmates had lost their motivation for their studies when they failed the language exams and thus returned to their home countries without completing their studies.⁽²⁵⁾ In an attempt to decrease language barriers, the Chinese Government has established Confucius Institutes in a number of African states to “meet their needs in the teaching of the Chinese language.”⁽²⁶⁾ The first Confucius Institute in Africa opened in Nairobi in December 2005, and efforts to bring more such institutions to the continent intensified after the 2006 FOCAC meeting. By July 2011, the number of Confucius Institutes totalled 22 in 16 African countries.⁽²⁷⁾ Confucius Institutes promote the Chinese language and the Chinese Government scholarship programme, in order to attract young African intellectuals from around the continent to China.

African students have traditionally migrated to countries with which they share a colonial past, due to fewer language barriers. It makes sense, then, that if language barriers influence students’ choice of study destination, and a shared language encourages studying in a particular country, the Chinese Government would wish to pursue the incorporation of the Chinese language into African school curricula, thus positively influencing the likelihood of students choosing to study in China. Indeed, in their hunt for African intellectuals, the Chinese Government has started to target younger generations to educate them in the Chinese language; for instance, investing in a girls’ school in Rwanda by providing computers, text books, sport equipment and two Chinese language instructors. The best performing students are awarded scholarships to complete their higher education in China.⁽²⁸⁾

One might ask, why all this effort? African students studying in China represent a new generation of future qualified professionals that have been exposed to Chinese culture, society and language.⁽²⁹⁾ The Chinese scholarship programme creates a platform for the next generation of qualified Chinese and African leaders in various professions and sectors to interact and connect. China’s training of a new generation of Africa's best students is aimed at bolstering its soft power in a region vital to China’s continuing economic growth. The strategy is to increase the number of politically connected and educated people who are well-versed in Chinese culture and hence have a better understanding of the country, and will be more inclined to engage with China at a professional level and promote a positive image of China back home⁽³⁰⁾ - vital ingredients in China’s economic ambitions in Africa.

Current discourse: Debunking stereotypes and bridging differences

African students are currently located in all major Chinese cities such as Wuhan, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing.⁽³¹⁾ The question is whether the increasing number of African students at Chinese universities will dissipate or intensify racism aimed at African students.⁽³²⁾

African students indicated in interviews that their experiences of the Chinese population have been predominantly positive. However, a limited number of students reported a few instances of racial discrimination by the older generation.⁽³³⁾ For instance, one African student mentioned that taxi drivers in Shanghai would occasionally refuse him as a customer,⁽³⁴⁾ with the presumption on the student’s part that this is due to his race. Another student expressed that she had not been subject to any racism and underlined that this was due to her lighter skin tone.⁽³⁵⁾ A Chinese accountant interviewed expressed that black people made her uncomfortable since “she could not see them when it was dark outside” and it felt like they were “up to something.”⁽³⁶⁾ Afrophobia clearly continues to exist, but it is comparably much less today.

According to Chinese and African students living in China, the relationship between African and Chinese students, and Chinese students’ sentiments regarding African, as well other foreign students, have undergone a positive change. In interviews, several Chinese students highlighted that their generation has a different perception of the world in comparison to the older generation. Rather than suspicion or distrust, the predominant sentiment among Chinese students is guided by their curiosity of a different culture.⁽³⁷⁾ Observations at the campus of Fudan University in Shanghai reveal that the interaction between African and Chinese students is rather positive. Not only do they study together as language partners, but they also dine together, are teammates in sports activities and engage in personal relationships with one another.

However, as much as the scholarship programme appears to be making inroads into bridging differences and debunking stereotypes through facilitating increased interaction among Chinese and Africans, there is a danger that unfair practices in awarding scholarships may foster resentment of a different kind among both Chinese and other scholarship students, and also damage the Chinese Government’s reputation.

The Chinese scholarship programme makes China an attractive alternative study destination for African students, increasing the competition for these scholarships. Thus, some students have started to use their social connections to get access to the scholarship package. Miriam Sanchez, a scholarship student stated that “Most scholarship students still get accepted through their high grades, but some through using their connections…Most scholarship students in China are from the capital, and they are more well-connected.”⁽³⁸⁾ Several of the African students interviewed confirmed that some of their friends had received scholarships by using their family connections at the national Ministry of Education or at the Chinese embassies in their home countries. The questionable practices and lack of transparency seen in the awarding of scholarships is exactly the kind of criticisms levelled against China in its other dealings with Africa, and the kind of bad press that China is trying to avoid.

The use of personal and social connections to be awarded a scholarship by the Chinese Government also does not serve the Chinese Government’s interests in the long run; if scholarships are not awarded on merit, then the aim of attracting the most talented African students is thwarted, and word spreading of unfair treatment may tarnish the government’s reputation, rather than enhancing its reputation as the scholarship programme is intended to do.

Conclusion

After almost 60 years, Sino-African educational cooperation is regaining new strength and importance. China’s growing attraction as a destination for African students is partly due to its scholarship programme and partly due to China’s increasing importance in the students’ home countries. The objectives of the scholarship programme have not only be to improve the educational quality of a population which is likely to be doing increasing business with China in the future, but also to grow China’s soft power to match the economic might it already enjoys in Africa.

But there is more to the story. In contrast to the anti-African sentiments that dominated the discourse surrounding African students in China in the 1980s, the current discourse is rather more positive. The scholarship programme has facilitated African students’ interaction with Chinese people and dismantled language barriers. While the Chinese Government has sought to serve its own ends, the fruits of Chinese investments, and particularly its scholarship programme, have also established a solid foundation for cultural understanding and decreased racial prejudices toward Africans around China.

Written by Zeynep Erdal (1)

NOTES:

(1) Zeynep Erdal is a Consultant with CAI and Capstone Project Coordinator and Teaching Assistant in the Political Science Department at Fudan University in Shanghai. Contact Zeynep through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Asia Dimension Unit ( asia.dimension@consultancyafrica.com).Edited by Nicky Berg.
(2)Ferdjani, H., ‘African students in China: An exploration of increasing numbers and their motivations in Beijing’, Center for Chinese Studies, September 2012, http://www.ccs.org.za.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Changsong, N., ‘China-Africa educational cooperation under the framework of FOCAC’, Institute of African Studies, 27 March 2012, http://www.gsid.nagoya-u.ac.
(6) The Cultural Revolution was a social-political movement that took place between 1966 and 1976 in China which saw the enforcement of communism through the removal of capitalist, traditional and cultural elements from Chinese society.
(7) Ferdjani, H., ‘African students in China: An exploration of increasing numbers and their motivations in Beijing’, Center for Chinese Studies, September 2012, http://www.ccs.org.za.
(8) Personal communication, Liu, H. and Feng, M. Shanghai locals, Shanghai, November-December 2012.
(9) Brautigam, D., 2009. The dragon’s gift: The real story of China in Africa. Oxford University Press: New York.
(10) Personal communication, Liu, H. and Feng, M., Shanghai locals, Shanghai, November-December 2012.
(11) Personal communication, Feng, M., Shanghai local, Shanghai, November 2012.
(12) Personal communication, Liu, H. and Feng, M., Shanghai locals, Shanghai, November-December 2012.
(13) Personal communication, Feng, M., Shanghai local, Shanghai, November 2012.
(14)Personal communication, Liu, H. Shanghai local, Shanghai, December 2012.
(15) Crane, T.G., 1994. Collective identity, symbolic mobilisation and student protests in Nanjing, China 1988-1989. Comparative Politics, 26(4), pp. 395-413.
(16) Ibid.
(17) Ibid.
(18) Personal communication, Feng, M., Shanghai local, Shanghai, November 2012.
(19) Allison, S., ‘Fixing China's image in Africa, one student at a time’, The Guardian, 5 July 2013, http://www.theguardian.com.
(20) ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Action plan 2007-2009’, FOCAC, 16 November 2006, http://www.focac.org.
(21) ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Sharm el Sheik Action plan 2010-2012’, FOCAC, 12 November 2009, http://www.focac.org.
(22) Allison, S., ‘Fixing China's image in Africa, one student at a time’, The Guardian, 5 July 2013, http://www.theguardian.com.
(23) Personal communication, Bo, A. and others, scholarship students from Africa, Shanghai, October-November 2012.
(24) Personal communication, Wilson, B., and others scholarship students from Africa, Shanghai, October-November 2012.
(25) Personal communication, José, M. and J. Santés., scholarship students from Africa, Shanghai, March 2013.
(26) ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Action plan 2007-2009’, FOCAC, 16 November 2006, http://www.focac.org.
(27) Tsang, C., ‘African students look East’, Think Africa Press, 15 July 2011, http://thinkafricapress.com.
(28) Kanyesigye, F., ‘Rwanda: Rulindo School gets China support’, The New Times, 17 October 2012, http://www.newtimes.co.rw.
(29) Ferdjani, H., ‘African students in China: An exploration of increasing numbers and their motivations in Beijing’, Center for Chinese Studies, September 2012, http://www.ccs.org.za.
(30) Allison, S., ‘Fixing China's image in Africa, one student at a time’, The Guardian, 5 July 2013, http://www.theguardian.com.
(31) Ferdjani, H., ‘African students in China: An exploration of increasing numbers and their numbers in Beijing’, Center for Chinese Studies, September 2012, http://www.ccs.org.za.
(32) Tsang, C., ‘African students look East’, Think Africa Press, 15 July 2011, http://thinkafricapress.com.
(33) Personal communication, Bo, A., and others scholarship students from Africa, October-Novermber 2012.
(34) Personal communication, Selassie, D., scholarship student from Africa, November 2012.
(35) Personal communication, José, M., scholarship student from Africa, April 2013.
(36) Personal communicaton, Yu, L., Chinese college student, Shanghai, May 2013.
(37) Personal communication, Yin Yue and others, Chinese college students, Shanghai, September-November 2012.
(38) Personal communication, Maria, C., Scholarship student from Africa, Shanghai, May 2013.