Beijing’s ‘Going Out’ Strategy and Belt and Road Initiative in the Sahel: The Case of China’s Growing Presence in Niger
Beijing’s ‘Going Out’ Strategy and Belt and Road Initiative in the Sahel: The Case of China’s Growing Presence in Niger
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DOI：
10.1080/10670564.2018.1557948
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发表时间：
2018-12
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Jean-Pierre Cabestan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jean-Pierre Cabestan
摘要本文以尼日尔为例，指出中国2013年提出的“一带一路”倡议与上世纪90年代末提出的“走出去”战略有很多相似之处。在2013年之前，非洲已经实施了许多目标和战略，特别是在社会经济贫穷的内陆国家，这些国家迫切需要基础设施和互联互通。这也表明，中国已经准备好投资于短期内不一定有利可图的项目，以巩固其在目标国家的经济和外交存在，并帮助中国大型国有企业成长和国际化。这表明，尽管尼日尔不属于首批目标国家，但这一倡议加深了中国在尼日尔的经济和政治影响力，特别是对法国不利。最后，本文强调，无论是在非洲，特别是萨赫勒地区，还是在一带一路国家，中国都面临着新的安全挑战，继续主要依靠别人来克服这些挑战。
ABSTRACT In looking at the case of Niger, this article demonstrates that there have been a lot of similarities between China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched in 2013 and its ‘going out’ strategy initiated in the late 1990s. Prior to 2013, many of the BRI’s objectives and strategies were already at work in Africa, and particularly in socioeconomically poor, landlocked countries that badly need infrastructure and connectivity. It also shows that China has been ready to invest in projects that are not necessarily profitable in the short term to consolidate its economic and diplomatic presence in the targeted country as well as to help its large state firms growing and internationalizing. It then demonstrates that although Niger did not belong in the initial group of countries targeted by the BRI, this initiative has contributed to deepening China’s economic and political influence in Niger, particularly to the detriment of France. Finally, this article highlights that both in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, and in the BRI countries, China is facing emerging security challenges, continuing to mainly rely on others to overcome them.