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On Cultural And Academic Exchanges Between China And African Countries

Article · January 2015

DOI: 10.4314/rj.v2i1.2B

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Rwanda Journal ISSN 2305-2678 (Print); ISSN 2305-5944 (Online)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/rj.v2i1.2B

On Cultural And Academic Exchanges Between

China And African Countries
C. M.Kabwete, University of Rwanda

Abstract
Cooperation between China and African countries has often been portrayed as
an economic one. Despite multiple exchanges in the area of culture and
knowledge production, not much is written about chinese culture in Africa or
knowledge production interaction between both China and African countries.
Just to give an example, each African major town has chinese restaurants and
Africans like chinese food. But food is seen as an economic asset, not a cultural
one. Chinese cuisine is not enough taken as scientific knowledge, but as
professional economic skills. I want to argue that economics is not divorced
from culture and academia.
I further want to understand how culture and academia have also united Chinse
and Africans for many centuries. African universities consume more western
knowledge than chinese one, despite the fact that China offers alot in this regard
as well. I want to show how African countries also offer alot to China in terms
of knowledge production. I will choose few countries of Africa and examine how
this cultural and academic exchange happens with China. My data are mainly
from documentary research where I use content analysis. I seek to answer the
following research questions: In what ways did the academic and cultural
cooperation between China and African countries evolve? What can be done in
order to make it more beneficial on both sides?
Key words: China-African countries, academic cooperation, cultural exchange.

1. Introduction
The protocols on cultural and educational cooperation between China
and several African countries had been signed since long ago. Cultural
and academic exchanges have a long history now between China and
several African countries. Although these exchanges have achieved alot
on both sides, the existing literature seems to emphasize more economic
cooperation. This paper revisits this academic and cultural cooperation,
looking both at the content of agreements, achievements in Africa and in
China, and unforeseen areas that need to be documented more and more.
Concerning academic exchanges, this paper advocates for more Chinese
studies in Africa, for the promotion of a culture of using academic works
of China by African scholars and teachers, and therefore for more
knowledge of China by Africans. On cultural cooperation, the paper
suggests that everyday life of Chinese and Africans in their migrant
experiences and in their encounters needs to be uncovered. This should
help us understand cultural experiences beyond the realm of cultural

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 5

performances that have been so far at the forefront of cultural
cooperation.
Part of the argument of this paper is that the more Africans understand
the Chinese and vice versa, the more mutual benefits in all aspects of the
cooperation will be reached by both sides. China’s cooperation enables
African countries to diversify their sources of material wealth, but also of
knowledge acquisition. Academic and cultural cooperation do not have
to be separated from other protocols of cooperation. Instead, they have to
be seen as part and parcel of the overall interests that are pursued by both
sides. Therefore, this paper addresses the following research questions:
In what ways did the academic and cultural cooperation between China
and African countries evolve? What can be done in order to make it more
beneficial on both sides?

2. Theoretical Framework
While researching about this paper, I was guided by a number of theories
found in international relations. There is a theory of international regimes
that entails that states while interacting with other states make
calculations in order to gain more benefits. In this regard, they are seen
as rational actors pursuing utilitarian ends (Hasenclever et al. 2004, pp.
23-25).This theory is closely linked to another one called realism in
international relations. Realism is pessimistic as far as cooperation is
concerned:
“Realism ignores the relevance of the human needs for community as
well as morality. As a consequence, its judgments of the possibilities for
inter-human identification, empathy, sympathy, and cooperation, as well
as for human learning and social progress, are extremely pessimistic.
This pessimism is so strong that it appears at times even incompatible
with other elements of realist thought. For example, realists generally fail
to take note of the fact that noncooperative behavior is often in the long
run self-defeating and thus ill-compatible with the assumption of
rationality. This is because individuals and states are bound to interact
with others not only once and never again but often on a continuing
basis, which requires them to cultivate a reputation for being acceptable
“players.” Inasmuch as nation-states in today’s world are interdependent,
at least economically, the motive of achievement could actually be
expected to encourage states to value their “reputations” more highly.
Thus it does not have to operate in the dysfunctionally competitive ways
predicted by realism.” (Freyberg-Inan 2004, pp. 112-113).
Therefore in this paper China-African countries cooperation, I adopt
what I call an optimistic realism, where it is possible to find both states’
calculations for their interests, but also their acceptance of cooperation.
This optimistic approach is very close to the liberal approach in
international relations: “The liberal institutionalists want to show realists
that cooperation is possible. But they accept a framework where state
identities and interests are exogeneous to the process, whereas a

6 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

model where identities and interests are shaped and reshaped in
interaction will be able much more convincingly to present the
possibility of co-operation.” (Neumann and Waever 2005, p. 24).

3. Methodology
The content of this paper relied entirely on written documents, both
primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include
mostly reports, most of which are available online. Secondary materials
include books as well as scientific journal articles (For a distinction
between primary and secondary sources see McCulloch 2004, p. 26). I
used the documentary research method. This method is about “the
analysis of documents that contain information about the phenomenon
we wish to study.” (Bailey 1994 quoted in Mogalakwe 2006, p. 221) I
used content analysis of written documents, both primary and secondary
materials. I resorted to thematic analysis by coding the data in key
themes of the paper (For more details about content analysis, see Crano
and Brewer 2002, pp. 245-263).
The comparative method was also very useful to this paper, since it
compares achievements and challenges of China and African countries in
their cultural and academic cooperation.
Azarian argues that “comparison is a mode of scientific analysis that sets
out to investigate systematically two or more entities with respect to
their similarities and differences, in order to arrive at
understanding, explanation and further conclusions.
So defined comparative works are marked off from those
considering only one entity or phenomenon as well as those that seek
to acquire knowledge about the mutual influences and the interplay
between two or more units of investigation.” (Azarian 2011, p. 116) The
historical method is also present in the paper, especially where some
chronology of events and activities can be traced and arranged.

4. Results
4.1. Academic Cooperation
The existing cooperation between China and African countries includes
academic exchange. And this has been there since long ago. Academic
exchange is very important because those who cooperate need to know
each other, understand each other’s histories, cultures, and ways of life,
needs and even tastes. Scholars who have worked on this Sino-African
collaboration have emphasized the need for more research on both sides
in order to reach the goal of mutual benefits in all areas of cooperation.
On the China’s part, the endeavor to document Africa in its multiple
facets – political, social, economic and even cultural – dates back to as
early as the 1930s. Li Anshan who has documented this development
calculated that by 1936 a first book on Africa written by Chinese

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 7

scholars was produced in 1936. From then on, the number of books and
scientific journals on Africa as written by Chinese kept on increasing.
The domains of research also kept on being diversified as the years went
on. The number of publications on Africa as produced by Chinese
scholars increased or decreased depending on the political changes of
China and the evolution of the interest towards Africa by China.
Particularly, publications and translations of books on Africa increased
significantly since the 1970s. And this trend went on up to the beginning
of this twenty first century. From Anshan’s research we learn how two
things developed significantly in China concerning academic research on
African countries.
The first one is the promotion of research by Chinese leaders and
stakeholders on Africa since early times. To this we add the translation
of books on Africa. The second one is the institutional development:
creation of Institutes and Centres for African Studies in several Chinese
universities (Anshan 2005, pp. 59-73).
A more recent inventory by Carayannis and Olin explains how the
Chinese institutions in charge of research on Africa are both government
agencies and universities and Chinese research on Africa is increasing
thanks to the job of these institutions. These include: The Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS), the Policy Planning Department and Africa Department of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the West Asian and African Affairs
Department of the Ministry of Commerce, the China Institute for
Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), the China Institute of
International Studies (CIIS), the African Studies Center of Zhejiang
Normal University, and many more centres from other Chinese
universities (See Carayannis and Olin 2012, pp. 24-27). Another report
by UNESCO notes that 10 Chinese universities have got Institutes of
African Studies (UNESCO 2011, p. 13).
When it comes to the African situation, scholars talk about structural and
conjunctural problems that African universities and research centres face
on an everyday basis that impede their capacity to produce sound
research on China. These include: the insufficient numbers of researchers
in all fields and on Chinese studies, financial shortages, and very limited
numbers of African research institutions working on China.
Initially, only Stellenbosch University of South Africa had a Centre for
Chinese Studies (CCS). Two more CCS have opened at the University of
Zimbabwe and Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria. They offer to
African leaders and traders information on China’s activities (Carayannis
and Olin 2012, pp. 21-22; Zeleza 2008, pp. 183-184). These are not
enough for African countries to understand more about China.
In order to empower African universities and research centres, China has
offered training opportunities to a number of African researchers and
scholars. While human resource development and training has been

8 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

targeting several African employees and students, a particular emphasis
is put on the training of researchers. Inter-university cooperation has
been set up in order to fulfill this aim.
It included the exchange of staff for studies and training purposes, the
organization of seminars and conferences, provision of equipment and
laboratories, and many other activities. Scholarships of China to African
students studying in China kept on increasing. By 2010 more than 5,000
students got these scholarships, and 40 percent of them were in
postgraduate studies. They studied various subjects (UNESCO 2011, pp.
5-12; King 2007, pp. 11-12; Xue 2010; Ferdjani 2012, p. 6; Anshan
2006, pp. 12-13). The number of Africans trained by Chinese in Africa
or sent to China for studies kept on increasing from the 1950s up to now.
(For details, see Eisenman 2012, pp. 211-217).
More importantly, the Centre for China-Africa research was launched in
Beijing in 2010. This centre is expected to “cover domestic and
international seminars on China-Africa cooperation, joint monographic
studies and research, and the publication of works on China-Africa
relations. A board of government officials and scholars is expected to
head the implementation of the program.” (Xianzhi 2010) A follow up
conference was held in Nairobi in March 2011. It focused on:
“Understanding China-Africa Relations, with the overall objectives of:
Discussing current developments in China and Africa pertaining to the
Research Cooperation and Academic Exchange Programme and existing
modalities for African research institutions, think tanks and researchers
engagement; identifying research priorities, activities and programmes,
policy dialogue and advocacy issues related to Africa – China relations;
setting up an African network or forum of research institutions and think-
tanks working on China-Africa relations.” (CODESRIA 2011)
Perhaps, this is where the African hope lies. If this centre operates
effectively, and if the Centres for Chinese Studies keep on increasing in
other parts of Africa, then a true research culture about China by
Africans can be expected to grow. This is what Zeleza has captured in his
plea some few years ago: “For its own sake, China needs to learn more
about Africa, as Africa needs to learn more about China, as their political
and business leaders celebrate the incredible growth in economic
relations between the peoples of these two remarkable lands.” (Zeleza
2008, p. 185).
Finally, one area of training that enhances Africans’ knowledge of China
and reduces cultural barriers between African countries and China is the
learning of Chinese language both for intellectual exchange, social
interaction and business. By 2010, Hanban (China’s Office of Chinese
Language Council International) has opened Confucius Institutes in 19
African countries including Rwanda. South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and
Nigeria are leading as these language institutes are available to more than
one university in those countries.

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 9

More than a 100 Chinese teachers had been sent to Africa to teach
Chinese language and some hundreds of thousands of books have been
sent to African countries. (UNESCO 2011, pp. 8-9) Each institute
receives between 100,000 and 150,000 US Dollars of aid to run its major
activities. The Confucius Institutes “provide Chinese-language programs,
train Chinese teachers, administer Chinese exams and tutoring services,
and organize Chinese language competitions. Some offer services for
African students interested in studying in China and provide commercial
and cultural information regarding China. […] [T]hese activities are
conducted to fulfill three primary objectives: teach Chinese, promote
cultural exchange, and promote business.” (Eisenman 2012, pp. 214-215.
See also King 2007, p. 12).
These institutes are among academic activities that provide visibility of
China in African countries. They give the impression that academic
cooperation is on the rise. This is true, but if we consider the fact that in
other faculty teaching activities, the learning about China remains very
limited, then we have to agree that much needs to be done in this regard.
Not only Africans need to learn Chinese languages and cultures, but they
also need to learn Chinese histories, Chinese geography and Chinese
economic performance and politics.
Given the volume of financial and economic cooperation that exists
between the two partners, it would be more appropriate to see African
academic actors resort more and more to Chinese academic production.
There are books and scientific journals written by Chinese scholars in all
disciplines that need to be translated into languages accessible to
Africans, languages that are global (English, French, Portuguese) but
also local though widely used (Swahili, Afrikaans, and many more).
These would enable a proper understanding of China by African
stakeholders and facilitate a more beneficial exchange between China
and African countries.
Academic programmes taught in African universities are still influenced
by Western programmes, contain more subjects from Europe and
America than China and elsewhere and use teaching materials that are
widely written by western academics. This is the time to diversify
sources of academic references. China would offer a valuable alternative
in this regard. Not just Confucius Institutes or Centres for Chinese
Studies, but also the increase of modules studying China’s life are
needed. In the Department of History and Political Science at the
University of Rwanda for instance, there are only three modules that
teach Chinese civilization and foreign policy out of nearly seventy
modules for other subjects. If this example is generalized throughout the
whole country and continent, then in order to know more about China,
the latter must enter the African curriculum in a significant manner.
Part of the reason why this knowledge of each other is needed is that
since the 1950s the cooperation between China and Africa has been
growing and is becoming even more prominent now than ever. China is

10 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

going to work with African countries for a long time from now, at least
from the way we see the Chinese and African countries commitments
and willingness in the bilateral agreements and in other diplomatic
declarations.

There are so many hopes, promises and expectations about mutual

benefits, win-win situations and improvements of lives on both sides
thanks to business and technological exchanges. Part of my argument is
that academic exchange will facilitate these economic and material
exchanges. China has shown enough interest in learning about Africa, in
investing in research about Africa and producing more academic works
about Africa. African countries also need to do this and to do it quickly.

4.2. Cultural Exchange

Just as power is everywhere, so is culture. It is in oil, natural resources,
infrastructure building and commercial exchanges. It must not be
divorced from other Chinese activities in Africa or African activities in
China. The history of diplomatic relations between China and Africa
separates protocols on political cooperation, with the ones in economic
cooperation or academic and cultural cooperation. But globalization
experiences have shown that culture goes hand in hand with all other
contacts.
It may be planned in formal decisions, but it also often appears in
informal or unforeseen situations. In order to clarify this point, I want
discuss cultural exchange between China and African countries by
looking at three historical and social phenomena: migration, the culture
of hard work and cultural performances.
A short history of China-African countries cultural exchange tells us that
already by 1955 China had signed a cultural agreement with Egypt and
that this trend continued from then on with several other African
countries. The cooperation became a two-way process even before
several African countries became independent:
“In 1958, twenty Chinese cultural delegations visited Africa, forty-five
African delegations visited China, and China established cultural
exchanges with Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Somaliland, Uganda, and
Angola. The next year, ten Chinese cultural delegations visited Africa
and fifty African delegations went to China. These delegations, as they
do today, included a variety of people such as acrobats, sports teams,
youth delegations, and theater groups. In the 1950s and 1960s African
delegations often attended rallies with thousands of Chinese to celebrate
such occasions as “Algeria Day” and “Congo Week.” (Eisenman 2012,
p. 219).
As we shall show later, this trend continued up to today. The sections on
migration and culture of hard work tell us how cultural exchange went

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 11

beyond this planned and formal cultural exchange between countries,
between artistic groups and between people.

4.2.1. Migration
Many occasions enabled the contact between Chinese and Africans.
Diplomatic relations led to the exchange of diplomats between China and
African people. As a result, diplomats started to live in both areas. The
contact was initiated, although it was so limited. Another occasion was
provided by the education cooperation. This led thousands of African
students go to China, live there, study there, come back to their home
country once the training programme was completed, but some of them
remained in China to seek new opportunities.
The number of Africans trained in China kept on increasing as the
research by Ferdjani tells us:
“The migration influx of students from Africa in cities like Beijing,
Guangzhou, Wuhan and Shenyang suggests the birth of a whole new
generation of qualified professionals, having learned from the “savoir-
faire”, language, culture and ways of the Middle Kingdom. The growing
influx of African students in China, which is set to become an
increasingly important destination for African youth, allows one to
assume that it will play an important part in the deepening of Sino-
African relations in the future. […] Our basic assumption here is that this
current generation of students is likely to perpetuate the partnership
between both parties as it is made of qualified ‘ambassadors’, mastering
the language requirements and the cultural knowledge to engage with the
Chinese in different areas.” (Ferdjani 2012: 7. See also King 2006: 4)
After listing several areas in which Africans go to seek training in China
and domains in which Chinese technicians come to serve in Africa,
Sautman and Yan mentioned the reasons why some Africans decide to
remain in China after training: “Despite difficulties presented by
widespread racism, a few Africans remain in the PRC after graduation,
some engaging in China–Africa business.” (Sautman and Yan 2007: 87-
88). These authors further describe various jobs done by Chinese in
African countries, ranging from small business up to more skilled jobs
that include technical jobs and even farming in several African countries.
Another research by Haugen describes the complexity of the migration of
Africans to China and their everyday life as Christians there. In a
fieldwork study on Africans who live in the town of Guangzhou as
Christians, this author shows how their life is made of complicated
experiences, the Chinese city or the their church becoming at the same
time a place of absence, where African Christians are obliged to pray in a
clandestine church; a place of insecurity and hiding, where some
Christians who are illegal residents are themselves obliged to hide; but
also a place of hope because of the consoling tone of the gospel. Coupled
with the fact that these Africans are far away from their kin family

12 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

members and face racism from the Chinese population, life becomes
difficult for many of them, but not unbearable (Haugen 2013).
Racism is emphasized by several authors as one of the major problems
both Chinese and Africans face during these migratory movements. So
going beyond racial stereotypes becomes an everyday challenge for
Chinese and Africans to live and interact together both in China and
Africa (See Monson and Rupp 2013, pp. 33-34).
Moreover, the issue of migration is seen in the way mutual interests must
be regulated: “The influx of Chinese migrants in Africa needs to be
closely watched. Chinese firms will not contribute to economic
development in Africa by using labor imported from their home
country.” (Edoho 2011: 120) Some other authors point to difficult
coexistence between the Chinese and Africans either at workplace or in
everyday life, where the difference of cultures and behaviours result in
conflicts.
They give examples of such problems in several countries. In doing so,
they tend to show how the cooperation between China and African
countries is not always about ‘mutual benefits’ (See for example Michel
2008; Eisenman 2012 and Carayannis and Olin 2012).
But beyond these difficulties, some of which are verifiable and some of
which are exaggerated, everyday life coexistence between the Chinese
and the Africans either in China or in African countries has created a
number of shared cultures. Nowadays, frequent mention of Chinese
culture or ways of life is increasing in the public sphere. To take some
examples in the pop culture or in the entertainment industry of some few
countries, in the Republic Democratic of Congo, a number of musicians
sing about the Chinese. The famous singer Koffi Olomide sang about
“Vieux Chinoix” (My fellow Chinese) in his 2012 album. The singer
Fally also mentioned the Chinese language in one of his songs of 2013.
The Kenyan comedian Eric Omondi made jokes about eating behaviours
of Chinese in one Comedy show in Kigali in 2013.
This propels us to see culture beyond what is formally considered as
‘cultural.’ The Chinese who are seen in the social landscape of African
countries are surely connected to their professional activities, but in the
process of interacting with their peer Africans at work or at home,
everyday life creates some other avenues of collaboration, perceptions,
judgments and choices of imitation or rejection. Just to take one example
of service delivery and culture, let us consider the widespread
phenomenon of ‘Chinese restaurants’.
It is indeed difficult to trace the time when Chinese restaurants started to
spread across the world, and in Africa. It is a relatively new culture in
African cities where middle class citizens enjoy going out at chinese
restaurants. These restaurants are owned by Chinese, by Africans
working with Chinese specialists of Chinese cuisine, and sometimes of
Africans who have worked with the Chinese and then open their own

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 13

businesses. I want to argue that restaurants are as much products of
economics but also of culture since they are about everyday life and
taste.
If we scrutinize the everyday life of both Africans in China and Chinese
in African countries, it is possible to find so many interesting social
trends that might be useful to rethink the ‘win-win’ or ‘mutual benefit’
goals. We might find avenues that are conducive to reducing conflicts or
transforming conflicts into opportunities. If the cooperation between
China and African countries keeps on strengthening, then the migratory
movements of their people will also continue. While material benefits are
at the forefront of this exchange, surely the understanding of cultural
interaction will help understand the place of material assets in everyday
life of people.

4.2.2. Learning the culture of hard work from the Chinese

The interaction between the Chinese and Africans at workplace has
revealed the extraordinary culture of hard work on the side of the
Chinese. The first comparison was made between the Chinese with other
European or American expatriates, the first working hand in hand with
Africans, living in modest conditions just like Africans despite their
hierarchical distinctions, and the second and the third keeping prestigious
at work due to their superior level of training and higher wages. This low
profile and hard work of the Chinese has impressed so many people that
several researchers working on China-African countries cooperation
never missed the opportunity of recording it (See Sautman and Yan
2007, p. 90).
A second comparison was made between the Chinese workers in all their
ranks at work with the Africans. Here again the Chinese demarcated
themselves. Their zeal, diligence at work, and capacity of working for
more hours than African was recorded. One example of this encounter is
the TAZARA railway project that built a railway linking the Zambian
copperbelt to the Indian Ocean on the side of Tanzania from 1968 to
1975.
This was one of the impressive achievements of China-African countries
cooperation at an early stage. 30,000 to 40,000 Chinese workers and the
double of that number of African workers had participated in the
construction activities. Zambian and Tanzanian workers praise the
theoretical and practical training received from China. Some of them
argue that it is even superior to formal training. This training at
workplace included skills for work, hard work culture but also discipline:
“The memory of Chinese workers’ willingness to join in with Africans in
every task—from ditch digging to blasting tunnels—remains one of the
most powerful images from TAZARA’s construction. A Zambian worker
remembers, ‘We were expecting what we used to see with the Europeans
from England or Germany, where someone is the manager: a white
manager just sitting in the office.… But they themselves [the Chinese]

14 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

were engaged in the actual labor work. If it was digging they were there,
if you were supposed to dig a foundation for a certain building they were
also involved in that. So because of that, the Zambians were happy. They
said, these guys, they can even do this kind of work, and there was no
difference [among different levels of workers].’
The Chinese dedication to performing manual labor during railway
construction was closely connected to the pedagogical focus of the
project. The lessons that they hoped to impart to their African “friends”
included not only technical know-how but also the ‘all-around skills’ of
work discipline and character building. Working hard under “bitter
conditions” would therefore be the best form of education for the African
youth recruits. […] The new African ‘industrial men’ that TAZARA’s
founders envisioned would therefore be shaped through labor practice:
they would gain technical know-how, work discipline, and other skills of
modern citizenship from their Chinese mentors. The Chinese technicians
in turn would serve as role models for emulation; in revolutionary China,
‘to be a model meant not only fulfilling one’s own duty well but also
helping others by example.’ ” (Monson 2013, pp. 51-52)
African workers learned these technical skills. Some of them who had
spent more time with the Chinese were even able to learn their language.
It would be likewise interesting to know whether the Chinese workers
also learned Swahili language or any other African language in the
process of working in Africa. Again the picture would be more complete
if we obtained the perceptions that the Chinese had about their fellow
African colleagues both at the beginning and the end of the project.
Three other research works on Tanzania, Mauritius and Algeria
emphasize hard work culture, the extra hour work of Chinese and how
this amazed the local populations (See Jansson et al. 2009; Monson and
Rupp 2013, pp. 26-27 and Michel 2008, p. 41). While this culture of hard
work is being hailed, recommended, and praised, it must be interrogated.
First, several African communities also have a culture of discipline and
hard work, though this is not yet extensively documented as far as
comparison with China is concerned. Secondly, the culture of hard work
has to be put in its social and geographical context in order to be properly
understood. However, both Chinese and Africans can teach each other
these best practices of hard work culture. This is one area where ‘mutual
benefits’ of the China-Africa cooperation in cultural matters would be
reached.

4.2.3. Cultural performances

Cultural exchange between China and African countries meant the
holding of cultural performances in both areas. These can be dated and
documented because they have been recorded on both sides of China and
African countries. What transpires is that they are numerous from the
time they started in 1955 up to now. They have also taken place in nearly
each African country and more than once. Again cultural delegations

Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015 15

were from official cultural groups but also from independent artists.
Some cultural performances were mobilized for the remembrance of
major political events, but many more were done for simply educative or
entertainment purposes. Certain cultural agreements were signed even at
decentralized levels in addition to the ones signed among states at
bilateral levels. Certain Chinese cultural troupes organized performances
in several African countries before going back home, just as some
African troupes also performed in more than one town of China. Again,
not just dancers and singers are the ones concerned. We see also the
participation of painters and graphic artists in various art exhibitions
(Cultural Exchange between China and Africa 2003; Eisenman 2012, pp.
2019-221).
More importantly, everyday life experiences shared by both Chinese and
African individuals and groups in their professional, economic and
financial liaisons happen to produce even richer venues for cultural
exchange. Monson and Rupp give an extensive account of the use of
language, social networks and kinship in these interactions. Languages
for instance appear as useful tools for communication and bargain.
Certain African immigrants in China play the role of intermediaries for
their fellow nationals who want operate between their countries and
China.
Again several Africans who meet in China’s cities create social networks
in order to be more empowered and secure, some of them collaborate
with Chinese stakeholders in their various activities. The same happens
in Africa between Chinese businessmen with their fellow and with the
Africans. These interactions, even though hard to quantify, are certainly
more significant factors of cementing the China-African countries
cooperation (See Monson and Rupp 2013, pp. 28-31).

5. Conclusion
Authors and stakeholders who think that China and African countries
cooperation merely is about the exchange of oil, raw materials and
services in return to infrastructure building have a narrow image of this
cooperation. This is what is visible, but it is not the only one
achievement of this cooperation. The academic and cultural part of the
cooperation, if sufficiently promoted, may help reveal other benefits of
the encounter between China and African countries.
While the China-Africa think tanks celebrate the achievements of this
cooperation, they also need to devise strategies to make academic
exchange between African universities and research centres and their
Chinese counterparts go beyond its current situation. The cultural
cooperation must also be supplemented with enough research about
everyday life experiences of both Chinese and Africans, in their
interactions at workplace but also at home.

16 Rwanda Journal, Series B: Social Sciences, Volume 2 No 1, 2015

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