The impact of China's integration in the global economy: Chinese special economic zones in Africa

• Autor(a) principal: Martins, Beatriz Fernandes
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/18642
• topic: Business; Business administration; China in Africa; Special economic zones; Economia global; Integração económica internacional; Investimento directo; China; África

China's rapid economic growth has been one of the most contentious issues in the world economy, where the role of the Special Economic Zones has been highlighted as strategic. This study aims at knowing and analyzing the implementation of China's Special Economic Zones in Africa, motivations, and problems related. This research focuses on understanding why China invests mainly outside instead of investing in its own social, environmental and economic problems. It further aims at checking the impact of the Sino-Africa relationship in issues of diplomacy, trade, development, and if this investment in Africa can be understood as a "modern colonialism". In the literature review, China's integration models such as WTO accessions and FDI growth are studied. Special Economic Zones definition, evolution and goals are studied, as well as the main drivers of Chinese SEZ in Africa. In the empirical study, we appeal to a qualitative methodology divided into two phases: one based in a document analysis, the other based on interviews to gather opinions from Chinese people "on the ground", with a focus on Angola case. The conclusions of this study indicate that SEZs play a crucial role in China's integration in the global economy, suggesting that can be understood as a tool to penetrate in other countries and take economic advantage of their role. On the other hand, many scholars argue that China has done nothing but helping others with their knowledge and power.