Abstract:
The title of the thesis is: “The Challenge and Prospect of Transforming Forum for China-
Africa Cooperation into Economic Partnership Agreement: China-Africa Trade in Focus”. The
China-Africa economic cooperation in general and promotion of trade in particular is
institutionalized under FOCAC - a platform of dialogue convened triennially for setting future
issues of cooperation - taking new commitments [including financing] and evaluating
implementation of previous one. The trade relationship is ballooning that since 2009 China
became Africa’s largest trading partner, however, their engagement under the auspices of
FOCAC is marked by departure from mainstream global trading regime filled by South-South
economic cooperation principles, at least at rhetorical level. The principles which undergird
the cooperation are not backed by normative legal framework, in a manner which reinforces
the aspiration of Africa’s economic integration, however, both Africa and China side planned
in 2015 to consider FTA potential. So far the partnership poses both opportunities and
challenges to African integration. The challenges mainly emanate from internal deficiency in
African Regional Economic Communities such as over overlapping membership, lack of
coordination; nonetheless, Chinese “divide and deal” approach with individual, the demand
from EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreement for MFN treatment in case African countries
entered into reciprocal Free Trade Area with developing countries [obviously China is the
major concern], poses a major challenge both for African integration and China-Africa the
supposed EPA. The major proposal of this thesis lies on the need to develop a special
normative framework [at least in the form of model agreements], which serves as springboard
and starting point for external engagements [with China for the case at hand] including at
WTO, in order to counter balance the adverse effect of the gap between continental integration
aspiration with lagging achievements so far. In effect, means reserving the process of
integration as an internal issue and/or at least minimizing external intervention from
entangling, redirecting for their self-interest and sometimes setting agenda of the process.
