By Sarah Fefer, Talk Diplomacy

China’s increasing engagement with African states, as well as its growing militancy in the global arena, has sparked a polarizing debate among all parties engaged about how to conceptualize China’s presence in Africa. Indeed, China’s African policy, as part of the Communist Party of China’s “Going Global Strategy,” raises serious concerns regarding China’s role as a growing power and its implications for the current international system order, whether as a status quo or revisionist force.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Report 2020, China remains Ethiopia’s largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI), accounting for roughly 60% of newly approved foreign projects in 2019.

“A large number of Chinese firms’ investment in various industrial parks in Ethiopia could be seen as an acknowledgment of the two nations’ strong and sustained bilateral relationship,” Temesgen Tilahun, deputy chief of the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) said.

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