T. L. DEITCH. CHINA CONQUERS AFRICA, Moscow: Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2013, 381 p.

T. L. Deitch's fundamental and detailed monograph is devoted to an extremely relevant topic. The growing role of China in the global economy and politics is one of the most important phenomena of the early 21st century. I would like to note that after the book was published in 2014, China surpassed the United States in terms of GDP calculated at purchasing power parity. Following the strategic goal of "going outward", China is expanding economic ties with countries on all continents, but Africa occupies a special place in its foreign policy and foreign economic activity. Over the past decade, China has gained economic and political positions in many African countries and is successfully displacing traditional "players" - former metropolises, as well as the United States-from various sectors of the continent's economy.

The author of the monograph, T. L. Deitch , is a well-known expert in the field of Chinese policy in Africa. She has written several books on this topic (the last one, Africa in China's Strategy, was published in 2008), as well as numerous articles in periodicals, collections, and chapters in collective monographs.

The monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of various aspects of China's political and economic activities in Africa in the first decade of the 21st century. The author can be credited with a large bibliographic apparatus that includes Chinese, African and Western sources and literature on the topic.

The monograph consists of six chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. The first chapter examines China's role in the global economy at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It analyzes the economic situation in modern China, the transformation of China's position in the world economy, which is important for assessing its role in the economy of African countries, and the historical process of China's formation as a global economic power. The author describes the geographical structure of China's foreign trade, noting that Africa ranked fifth among other regions in terms of trade turnover with China in 2011 after Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America (p. 25). At the same time, the importance of Africa in China's foreign economic relations is increasing.

The second chapter analyzes the evolution of the conceptual framework of the PRC's foreign policy, which includes the Chinese doctrine for Africa, describes the PRC's foreign policy, which is actively expanding ties with the West and East; the evolution of Beijing's foreign policy, including relations with the world's leading countries (the United States, EU countries, Japan and Russia), and assesses the growing role of countries in Beijing's foreign policy priorities.

The third chapter examines China's strategy for Africa. The author analyzes the documents that contain Beijing's theoretical attitudes towards Africa, assesses Beijing's diplomatic efforts on the continent, as well as the" soft power " of Chinese policy, which allows the PRC to establish broad ties with African countries at cultural, educational and other levels. diplomatic channels and all possible forms of exchanges to create an image of China in Africa as a friendly country, ready to provide assistance to Africans and counting on the support of African countries in return.

As an economist, I was most interested in the fourth chapter, which deals with China's economic policy in Africa. The chapter contains extensive material on Chinese aid to Africa, China's trade with the continent, and Beijing's investment activities in Africa. The chapter provides its own periodization of China's economic cooperation with African countries. In the first period, in the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese aid programs were dominated by giant projects such as the TANZAM railway, "prestigious projects" such as stadiums, cinemas, and "palaces of friendship" (p. 128). For example, in the capital of Cape Verde, Praia, in the Ashada Santo Antonio district, there were A monumental building of the National Assembly has been built, which stands out against the background of low-rise buildings. Even during the period when China itself was experiencing economic difficulties, before the start of reforms, it provided assistance to African countries. In the 1970s. The Soviet Union provided much more significant assistance to African countries and national liberation movements than China, but this positive experience did not become a reality.

the foundation for the development of relations after the collapse of the USSR, and was consigned to oblivion (and above all by Russia itself).

T. L. Deitch notes that the second period of China's assistance to African countries falls on 1979-1989, the defining factor of the period is reforms in the PRC, and this period itself is characterized as "more pragmatic". China switched to small and medium-sized projects, 40% of investments were made in infrastructure facilities, light and food industry enterprises were built (p. 129). The third period lasted from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. Financial assistance to Africa began to grow. The new concept of economic cooperation with African countries was formulated by Chinese President Jiang Zemin during his visit to the continent in 1996. If earlier cooperation was carried out mainly at the state level, now an active independent role is given to Chinese enterprises. The fourth period of China's economic cooperation with Africa covers the 2000s. Chinese aid programs have expanded from the traditional "project programs" of the 1990s to include debt relief, technical cooperation, humanitarian assistance, and staff training. Not only the state and state corporations of the People's Republic of China, but also private firms began to take part in providing financial assistance (pp. 130-131).

Separate sections of the fourth chapter are devoted to the analysis of China's trade and investment cooperation with African countries. China is now the world's leading exporter of goods. According to the data provided by the author, China's trade turnover with African countries increased from $ 8.7 billion in 2000 to $ 200 billion in 2013 (pp. 148-149). Its leading trading partners in Africa in 2010-2012 were South Africa (30% of China's trade with African countries), Angola (19%), Nigeria (5%), Egypt (5%), and Libya (4%). At the same time, the main exporters to China among African countries were South Africa, Angola, Libya, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (pp. 150-151).

According to T. L. Deitch, one of the factors that determined the success of China's investment policy in Africa is the willingness of Chinese companies to take risks when operating in war-torn and conflict-torn countries such as Liberia, DRC, and Sierra Leone. Second, Chinese businesses focus on sectors of the economy that Africa is particularly interested in developing, such as infrastructure (p.177). A special feature of China's investment cooperation with African countries is the close connection between companies ' investments and government assistance (not to mention the fact that the largest Chinese corporations that invest abroad are mostly state-owned and semi-state-owned). If Chinese companies are granted the right to invest in the extraction of raw materials in resource-rich countries, then infrastructure development projects are being implemented in parallel ("infrastructure in exchange for raw materials") (p. 201). When providing assistance to the PRC for infrastructure development, the construction of facilities is usually entrusted to Chinese companies. This causes dissatisfaction of the receiving party. (However, this is a common practice, a significant part of Western aid is also "related", and the implementation of EU loans is likely to be entrusted to a European company.) The author seeks to explore not only China's unprecedented success, but also the problems and "pitfalls" that it faces in its relations with the outside world. A distinctive feature of cooperation with the PRC is that Chinese companies send a large number of employees to the country when implementing projects, not only top-level specialists (like Western countries), but also ordinary workers who compete in the labor market with Africans, which does not help solve the problem of unemployment and causes discontent in society (p. 197).

Section 5 of the fourth chapter focuses on China's oil strategy in Africa and the activities of Chinese companies in the African oil market. In Africa, China is attracted to the continent's oil and other mineral resources. (An article about China's expansion in the raw materials sectors of African countries in the English Economist magazine was eloquently titled "The Gluttonous Dragon".) The author cites data that China receives 1/3 of its oil imports from Africa (p. 184). At the same time, T. L. Deutsch repeatedly emphasizes that China's interest in African countries is not limited to their concern for the country's energy security.

T. L. Deutsch makes a curious conclusion: the access of Chinese companies to African commodity markets was facilitated by the "Washington Consensus", whose components were structural adjustment and economic liberalization programs that were not successful in the previous decade.

countries of Africa (p. 200). African countries ' disillusionment with these programs has contributed to the success of Chinese companies.

The author examines in detail the activities of Chinese oil corporations in Africa. A small note: it should be noted that PetroChina, whose shares are listed on world stock exchanges and which occupies a leading position in the Forbes rating, is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) (p. 185).

Of particular interest is the fifth chapter of the monograph, which examines the positions of the PRC in certain African countries: South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Four of these six countries are among China's main suppliers of oil and minerals and its top ten trading partners on the continent. The experience of Angola is interesting. At one time, during the national liberation struggle, and then during the civil war, the USSR supported the MPLA group, and China supported the FNLA and UNITA groups. In the civil war, the MPLA won, which was headed by President Eduardo Dos Santos-a graduate of a Soviet university, he had (before the divorce) a Russian wife, whose daughter Isabel Dos Santos is on the Forbes list of billionaires. But it is not Russia that has become Angola's leading partner in trade and investment, but China. China has offered Angola loans, contracts for infrastructure construction, and has become one of the largest investors in the country's oil industry. The PRC, having signed an oil supply agreement with Angola, provided it with a credit line and concluded contracts with it for construction work, and the method according to which the loan money was transferred not to the Angolan government, but mainly to Chinese companies that implemented construction projects, was called "Angolan". Subsequently, the PRC began to apply it in other African countries. The" Angolan method " in Angola itself caused discontent among local businessmen. The massive influx of Chinese personnel has been a negative factor in the Angolan labor market (pp. 235-236).

Relations with Sudan and Zimbabwe most clearly illustrate the application in practice of Beijing's main foreign policy principle - non-interference in the internal affairs of partner countries, which allows it to successfully develop relations with states to which the West applies sanctions. China is the largest consumer of Sudanese oil and a leading investor in the Sudanese economy. After the formation of independent South Sudan, Beijing showed flexibility, immediately establishing political and economic cooperation with the new state. CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) was the largest operator in the oil industry of both countries.

In the sixth chapter, "China and Africa on the World Stage", the author analyzes the problems of interaction between China and African countries in the UN. Thanks to its economic cooperation with African countries, China has no shortage of" allies " supporting its policies in international organizations. The author notes that it was the largest group of African countries that played a decisive role in the failure of Western efforts to convict China of human rights violations: Western proposals to adopt a resolution condemning China for such violations were rejected 11 times in the Human Rights Committee (pp. 278-279). Previously, the USSR had many such allies among African countries, but today Russia, whose ties with Africa have sharply decreased, has few of them.

T. L. Deitch also considers the issue of BRICS, which is gaining weight in modern international affairs, and the BRICS countries ' cooperation with Africa, which is very relevant for Russia today. In 2012, BRICS trade with Africa totaled $ 301 billion, of which China accounted for $ 200 billion, India for $ 70 billion, Brazil for $ 27 billion, South Africa for $ 26 billion, and Russia for $ 9.4 billion (p. 293). The data speaks for itself. The scale of Russia's trade with Africa is minimal. The chapter also discusses China's cooperation with African regional and sub-regional organizations that play an important role in African integration processes. Finally, the author pays attention to a very topical issue of African conflicts, analyzing Beijing's position on this issue and its participation in UN peacekeeping operations.

In conclusion, the main conclusions of the author are formulated. T. L. Deitch emphasizes that China's increased interest in African countries, on the one hand, refutes the idea of international marginalization of Africa popularized in the West, and on the other hand, it is part of the global Chinese international strategy of struggle for leadership (p.337). The author provides a list of factors that, in her opinion, contributed to Beijing's implementation of its policy goals in Africa, and also summarizes aspects of Chinese policy that cause critical responses to

on the continent. Among the latter, there is an imbalance in China's favor in Sino-African trade, China's active export of raw materials, primarily oil, which makes it possible to say that China is implementing a "neo-colonialist policy" on the continent, condemning Africa to the role of a raw material appendage of its rapidly growing economy; an influx of cheap Chinese products that make local producers uncompetitive. producers; uncontrolled Chinese migration to African countries; Chinese companies ' use of imported workers instead of hiring local staff, etc. (p. 342). At the same time, "it is necessary to recognize that the Chinese leadership is taking measures to eliminate, if possible, the negative aspects inherent in China's economic relations with Africa" (p.343). And the African countries themselves are certainly interested in cooperation with China, and their requests are generally met by the presence of competitors among their traditional Western partners-before the Soviet Union, now China.

The disadvantages of the book include repetitions, some, however, very few typos and stylistic errors. In my opinion, the title of the book is not very good. In general, T. L. Deitch's monograph "China" conquers "Africa" is a serious scientific study of the actual problem. The author introduces a lot of new material into scientific use, skillfully generalizes it.

T. L. Deitch's book makes you think about Russia's cooperation with African countries very sad. At one time, the Soviet Union had very close political and economic ties with a number of countries on this continent. A considerable number of industrial and infrastructure facilities, hospitals, and educational institutions were built. Soviet doctors, teachers, and geologists worked in Africa. A large number of Africans were educated in universities and secondary vocational educational institutions of the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, the potential for cooperation developed over the years was discarded "as unnecessary". Cultural centers in many countries were closed, cooperation projects were curtailed, and many specialists from the USSR left or went to work under private contracts. Meanwhile, it would be very useful for Russia today to take into account the experience of the PRC in developing comprehensive relations with African countries. T. L. Deitch also writes about this at the end of the conclusion: "It is useful for Russia to borrow much of the Chinese experience" (p. 343).

T. L. Deitch's monograph is not only of interest to specialists, students, and anyone interested in China, African countries, and global economic and political issues, but also has considerable practical significance for Russian organizations to use China's experience in its cooperation with African countries

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