Financing China's engagement in Africa: New state spaces along a variegated landscape

Abstract

Recent studies on Chinese investment in Africa have particularly focused on the hardware of development - infrastructure - and its impact. China's vision to forge a new global order was made explicit when Xi declared his 'One Belt, One Road' policy in 2013. Underlying the grand infrastructural schemes and political posturing are hidden financial manoeuvres, the soft side of power, unspoken sociality and value contestations. This article focuses on the variegated landscape of China-Africa trade/finance infrastructure centring on Hong Kong. It highlights top-down state orchestration but also explores historical contingencies that have shaped the strategies of those whose footprints unexpectedly straddle continental divides.