In Latin America, China similarly bestowed on Brazil favourite nation status. However, Brazilian soon discovered in spite of this their products faced huge tariff barriers in China. Furthermore, China promised to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Brazil. Predictably this was very slow to materialize. Another sticking point was that China insisted on bringing Chinese nationals as work crews, instead of transferring local skills. This is already a sore point across Africa.
Many African businesses complain Chinese companies dump cheap end of line stocks, often bypassing customs and import duties. Not only does this drive locals out of business, the cheap items are often of poor quality. The influx of cheap Chinese goods to Africa decimates the struggling local manufacturing industry. In South Africa, official figures shows that cheap Chinese textiles have led to the lost of at least 67 000 jobs the past 4 years. South African unions have lobbied the government who is busy negotiating a free trade deal with China to include clauses committing China to respect minimum labour, human rights and environmental standards. Most African countries, just like South Africa export the capital-intensive commodities or raw materials that China hungers for, and import labour-intensive manufactured goods from China. So, the rise in exports to China typically generates few jobs, while imports from China take away jobs. If this continues, argues South African President Thabo Mbeki the African continent could be "condemned to underdevelopment", and "recolonisation". Africans should heed the warning. Full: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/needtoknow/2006/12/china_colonizing_africa.html
