论文部分内容阅读
Zhang Hongmei cannot control her excitement at the thought of the company she works for increasing their footprint in Africa. As sales manager for Fuzhou Jump Smart Cards Co. Ltd.， she told Beijing Review at the Second China （Beijing） International Fair for Trade in Services （CIFTS） that “Chinese companies， including us， are favored by African countries.”
Fuzhou Jump Smart Cards， based in the city of Fuzhou， southeast China’s Fujian Province， has a business presence in Ethiopia and Kenya and supplies smart cards for the service sectors of local telecommunication and financing. As one of the 2，000 Chinese enterprises doing business in Africa， the company witnessed the unprecedented opportunities brought by the vast market on the continent. On the other side of the coin lie the challenges of operating in a foreign market， which include poor infrastructure and an often unstable business environment in Africa.
Promising market
With the strengthening of Sino-African political relations， especially the deepening of bilateral trade cooperation， more Chinese companies are including Africa in their plans， with investment sectors like infrastructure， agriculture， tourism， airline transportation and financing. Taking advantage of the platform that the second CIFTS offered when it was held in Beijing from May 28 to June 1， African countries are on hand to promote business opportunities and attract more investments from China.
Africa’s vast but underdeveloped market overshadowed the scale of China’s current in- vestment on the continent. In the infrastructure sector alone， Africa will face a financial shortfall of about $360 billion before 2040， according to statistics released by African Development Bank in 2012. “There are many opportunities for Chinese investing in Africa， and we value the cooperation with Chinese enterprises and welcome more and more Chinese to conduct businesses in our country，” said Frederick M. Shava， Ambassador of Zimbabwe to China， at the China-Africa Investment Forum held during CIFTS.
To facilitate Chinese registering companies in Africa， many African countries provided a one-stop shopping for Chinese investors to learn about local taxation laws and investment regulations. They also tried to minimize restrictions on foreign investment. “We encourage Chinese to invest in Zimbabwe. For example in tourism， Chinese are allowed to enter the service sector relating to tourism like opening hotels or restaurants if they jointly work with a local partner and hire a certain number of local employees，” Mavis Sibanda， Minister Counselor from the Embassy of Zimbabwe to China， told Beijing Review. In the eyes of Cheng Tao， former Chinese Ambassador to Morocco， one reason why Chinese enterprises should grab the business opportunities in Africa was the potential of a large consumer market on the continent. Africa has a population of 1 billion and its young population， aged from 15 to 20， has reached the 200 million mark and will double by 2045. “The large population does not only mean a huge consumer market， it is also exacerbating the employment pressure in Africa，” said Cheng， noting that to get the large number of young people employed， African countries had to expand production， thus creating more investment opportunities.
The African Union was also accelerating regional integration and improving the investment environment to absorb more foreign investments. At the 18th African Union Summit held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in January 2012， the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa was adopted to break the development bottleneck by ratcheting up investment in establishing infrastructure with the joint efforts of the whole continent.
Against the backdrop of a bleak global economy， the amount of foreign direct investment （FDI） introduced by African countries continued to decline in recent years， while Chinese FDI to Africa saw a major increase. According to Wang Yong， Vice President of China-Africa Development Fund， Chinese FDI to Africa had reached $20 billion by the end of 2012， a significant increase compared to the figure of less than $500 million a decade ago. China invested over $3 billion in Africa in 2012 alone.
“Chinese enterprises are devoted to helping African countries realize industrialization， improve the added value of their products， create more job opportunities for locals and increase revenues of local governments，” said Wang at the forum.
The China-Africa Investment Fund in recent years helped batches of Chinese enterprises in good standing to conduct business in Africa， bring practical changes to the lives of local residents （see box）.
The element of risk
Although security on the continent has improved in general terms， some regions were still plagued by ongoing conflicts， leading to economic stagnation. The Tunisia protests in December 2010 set off a domino effect of uprisings across North African countries， including Egypt and Libya. Mali witnessed a coup d’état in March 2012， which， according to its national revenue authority， saw the country’s revenue levels drop by $625 million. “Political instability and constant turnover in leadership bring huge risks for enterprises’operation，” said Cheng. Besides， Chinese companies had to deal with challenges in regard to the business environment， including inadequate electricity supplies， high inflation and currency instability.
However， He Wenping， a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， noted that risks should be looked at rationally. “As long as there are opportunities， there are risks. Among risks， there are also secure harbors，” she said， citing the example of Democratic Republic of the Congo， where conflicts mainly happened in the eastern region and the business environment was relatively stable in the west.
Representatives at the China-Africa Investment Forum suggested Chinese companies learn more about local customs， culture， religions， laws and regulations， and perfect their management and com- munication abilities with locals in Africa to conduct business operations in a sustainable way. “Some of our companies are not well prepared to expand their global presence， especially in terms of skilled staff. We urgently need talented individuals who not only master the language and management skills， but also are familiar with local laws and regulations and local investment environment，”said Wang. He also noted that Chinese companies lacked experience in localizing their operations and maintaining public relations with locals. The people-to-people aspect of foreign investment is clearly one that must not be neglected， he said.
Fuzhou Jump Smart Cards， based in the city of Fuzhou， southeast China’s Fujian Province， has a business presence in Ethiopia and Kenya and supplies smart cards for the service sectors of local telecommunication and financing. As one of the 2，000 Chinese enterprises doing business in Africa， the company witnessed the unprecedented opportunities brought by the vast market on the continent. On the other side of the coin lie the challenges of operating in a foreign market， which include poor infrastructure and an often unstable business environment in Africa.
Promising market
With the strengthening of Sino-African political relations， especially the deepening of bilateral trade cooperation， more Chinese companies are including Africa in their plans， with investment sectors like infrastructure， agriculture， tourism， airline transportation and financing. Taking advantage of the platform that the second CIFTS offered when it was held in Beijing from May 28 to June 1， African countries are on hand to promote business opportunities and attract more investments from China.
Africa’s vast but underdeveloped market overshadowed the scale of China’s current in- vestment on the continent. In the infrastructure sector alone， Africa will face a financial shortfall of about $360 billion before 2040， according to statistics released by African Development Bank in 2012. “There are many opportunities for Chinese investing in Africa， and we value the cooperation with Chinese enterprises and welcome more and more Chinese to conduct businesses in our country，” said Frederick M. Shava， Ambassador of Zimbabwe to China， at the China-Africa Investment Forum held during CIFTS.
To facilitate Chinese registering companies in Africa， many African countries provided a one-stop shopping for Chinese investors to learn about local taxation laws and investment regulations. They also tried to minimize restrictions on foreign investment. “We encourage Chinese to invest in Zimbabwe. For example in tourism， Chinese are allowed to enter the service sector relating to tourism like opening hotels or restaurants if they jointly work with a local partner and hire a certain number of local employees，” Mavis Sibanda， Minister Counselor from the Embassy of Zimbabwe to China， told Beijing Review. In the eyes of Cheng Tao， former Chinese Ambassador to Morocco， one reason why Chinese enterprises should grab the business opportunities in Africa was the potential of a large consumer market on the continent. Africa has a population of 1 billion and its young population， aged from 15 to 20， has reached the 200 million mark and will double by 2045. “The large population does not only mean a huge consumer market， it is also exacerbating the employment pressure in Africa，” said Cheng， noting that to get the large number of young people employed， African countries had to expand production， thus creating more investment opportunities.
The African Union was also accelerating regional integration and improving the investment environment to absorb more foreign investments. At the 18th African Union Summit held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in January 2012， the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa was adopted to break the development bottleneck by ratcheting up investment in establishing infrastructure with the joint efforts of the whole continent.
Against the backdrop of a bleak global economy， the amount of foreign direct investment （FDI） introduced by African countries continued to decline in recent years， while Chinese FDI to Africa saw a major increase. According to Wang Yong， Vice President of China-Africa Development Fund， Chinese FDI to Africa had reached $20 billion by the end of 2012， a significant increase compared to the figure of less than $500 million a decade ago. China invested over $3 billion in Africa in 2012 alone.
“Chinese enterprises are devoted to helping African countries realize industrialization， improve the added value of their products， create more job opportunities for locals and increase revenues of local governments，” said Wang at the forum.
The China-Africa Investment Fund in recent years helped batches of Chinese enterprises in good standing to conduct business in Africa， bring practical changes to the lives of local residents （see box）.
The element of risk
Although security on the continent has improved in general terms， some regions were still plagued by ongoing conflicts， leading to economic stagnation. The Tunisia protests in December 2010 set off a domino effect of uprisings across North African countries， including Egypt and Libya. Mali witnessed a coup d’état in March 2012， which， according to its national revenue authority， saw the country’s revenue levels drop by $625 million. “Political instability and constant turnover in leadership bring huge risks for enterprises’operation，” said Cheng. Besides， Chinese companies had to deal with challenges in regard to the business environment， including inadequate electricity supplies， high inflation and currency instability.
However， He Wenping， a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， noted that risks should be looked at rationally. “As long as there are opportunities， there are risks. Among risks， there are also secure harbors，” she said， citing the example of Democratic Republic of the Congo， where conflicts mainly happened in the eastern region and the business environment was relatively stable in the west.
Representatives at the China-Africa Investment Forum suggested Chinese companies learn more about local customs， culture， religions， laws and regulations， and perfect their management and com- munication abilities with locals in Africa to conduct business operations in a sustainable way. “Some of our companies are not well prepared to expand their global presence， especially in terms of skilled staff. We urgently need talented individuals who not only master the language and management skills， but also are familiar with local laws and regulations and local investment environment，”said Wang. He also noted that Chinese companies lacked experience in localizing their operations and maintaining public relations with locals. The people-to-people aspect of foreign investment is clearly one that must not be neglected， he said.