| Southern Africa to become food basket for China |
|
|
| Written by Staff Reporters | ||
|
Southern Africa is likely to become a food basket following plans by Chinese firms to establish farms in the region, a leading South African expert on China, Martyn Davies, said last week. Davies, who is the Executive Director at the Centre for Chinese Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, said due to the growing food demand in China, the country was looking for huge tracks of land in the region to establish farms that would export food to China.
He said countries in the region must seize the opportunities brought about by China’s growing economy. “This is only the third time in history that we are seeing the rising of a world power after the US and the British Industrial Revolution,” he said. Davies said China views Africa as an important partner in its development. In 2009/2010, trade between China and Africa will amount to US$100 billion per year and it will become Africa’s biggest trading partner, Davies said. “They seem to be more confident than we are about our own markets,” Davies said. Davies said unlike western countries, China has no strings attached in its trade relationship with Africa. “China sees Africa as an emerging market than a developmental burden as the Europeans do,” Davies said. According to Davies, in November 2006, the Chinese government decided to take its development model to Africa. This has seen the establishment of industrial parks in Zambia, Tanzania and Mauritius. The Chinese are also planning to rehabilitate a number of infrastructure such as railways and ports in Africa, Davies said. |
||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|