China Monitor 2011

China, Africa and Climate Change: Renewable Energy Promotion

Issue 67 – November/December 2011

The end of year issue of The China Monitor is dedicated to renewable energies. The key issue during the current COP17 negotiations in Durban is how to move away from heavily CO2-emitting societies. Energy is a key topic in emerging economies, whose energy consumptions grows at an enormous speed, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

In the Policy Watch, YE Yu illustrates a combination of industrial policy and energy policy in China, which has made the country the biggest producer of wind-energy equipment. Yu points to further challenges for China – notably the facts that the technology is not owned by China and that it is less applied than initially envisaged.

Our commentary piece this month is by Cord Luedemann, LLM student at Stellenbosch University, who has previously worked in energy regulation in Germany. In an interesting comparison with Ye Yu’s contribution, he highlights the South African policies on promoting renewable energy.

The China Briefing subsequently covers some of the most prominent China-Africa stories from the last month, drawn from our Weekly Briefings.

Download Issue 67 of The China Monitor here.

China, Africa and Climate Change: Looking Ahead to the COP17 in Durban, South Africa

 

Issue 66 – October 2011

The October issue of The China Monitor picks up on ‘ecological sustainability’ as a recently introduced strand of active research at the CCS, by focusing on prominent discussions surrounding the upcoming 17th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, otherwise known as the COP17.

In the Policy Watch, LI Wanxin, of City University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University, looks into China’s policies on climate change. As one would have expected, it is a highly dynamic policy area with new activities trying to step up to the economic growth.

Next, Oliver Ruppel and Sanita van Wyk from Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Law remind us of the consequences that African societies are likely to face due to climate change through the lens of legal studies.

The China Briefing subsequently covers some of the most prominent China-Africa stories from the last month, drawn from our Weekly Briefings.

Download Issue 66 of The China Monitor here.

China’s Special Economic Zones: A Bright Future for Africa?

Issue 65 – September 2011

The September issue of The China Monitor focuses on special economic zones (SEZ) in China and Africa.

In the Policy Watch, YUAN Yiming of the China Centre for Special Economic Zone Research in Shenzhen, China analyses the remarkable growth and success of the Shenzhen SEZ.

For the Commentary piece, Phillip Giannecchini explores the current state of Chinese-led SEZ’s in Africa, looking into the current state of affairs in Chambishi (Zambia), Lekki (Nigeria) and Ethiopia.

Also included is a report on the recently released Research Report: Transparency of Chinese Aid – An analysis of the published information on Chinese external financial flows, by Sven Grimm. More details on the report below.

Download Issue 65 of The China Monitor here.

Public Service Delivery- New Models in China

Issue 64 – August 2011

The August issue of The China Monitor focuses on development challenges within China. Parts of the country beyond the glass and steel skyline of Beijing, Shanghai or Shezhen look very familiar to observers with an African background. China is a dynamic place, indeed, but development levels are uneven.

In the Policy Watch, The contribution by Jessica Teets of Middlebury College in the USA illustrates that service delivery is not necessarily about immediate interaction with the state, but also concerns the regulatory capacities.

For the Commentary piece, Daouda Cisse, a post-doctoral researcher here at the Centre for Chinese Studies, argues that the experiences over the last 50 years create a specific and somewhat different starting point for modernisation of the public administration and service delivery in African states.

Also included is a Conference Report from the recent China-Africa Relations and Public Diplomacy Conference in Stellenbosch held in August.

The China Briefing subsequently covers some of the most prominent China-Africa stories from the last month, drawn from our Weekly Briefings

You can read/download Issue 64 of The China Monitor [here].

Effects of modernisation: Rethinking China’s role in the international political economy

June-July 2011

Issue 63 of the China Monitor examines elements of china’s modernisation. It has become almost a truism that China’s gaining of economic strength does come with fundamental shifts in the global order. Its magnitude distinguishes it from the previous success stories of Asian countries like Japan, South Korea or Singapore. The contribution by Christopher McNally, Chaminade University, USA. explores the global implications of what he calls a ‘Sino-Capitalism’ and what Chinese officials prefer to label as ‘a market economy with Chinese features’.
In our commentary piece, CCS research fellow Dr. Daouda Cisse contributes some thoughts on what we see when ‘looking East’ from the African continent. The lessons we take from that image, he argues, will be a function of how closely the observer zooms in to the policy decisions and the context of China.

[You can read/download Issue 63 of the China Monitor here -->]