The Missing Link: China's Contracted Engineering Projects in Africa

This paper examines the driving forces of China's contracted engineering projects in Africa. Using data on contracted engineering projects in 52 African countries over the period 1991–2010, three groups of hypotheses are tested: (1) economic motives; (2) political ties between China and Africa; and (3) host country characteristics. We find that countries get more projects if they have large market potential and are political allies of China. Our results also suggest that Forums on China–Africa Cooperation promote projects in Africa. In contrast, host country characteristics are hardly related to the amount of engineering projects received.