predict that China’s place in the FDI arena, for Africa and the world, is likely to further accelerate in the near future.<sup>5</sup> The second reason for the attention is somewhat complicated, related to the way in which the Chinese are perceived to invest. Western critics generally believe China’s investment in Africa is predominantly “state investment,” i.e., investment made by government-owned enterprises (SOEs). Critics also emphasize the concentration of investment in oil, gas, and mining to meet the ever growing demand for resources to fuel the startling expansion of China’s domestic economy. (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2009) Further, China’s growing involvement in Africa has been routinely cast as dependent on deals made at high political levels, profiting the African elites while satisfying China’s ambition for enlarged geopolitical influence. Finally, Chinese investment is frequently criticized for its lack of transparency and, disputably, for bringing their own workforce from home, thus depriving the host economies of the benefits of job creation.<sup>6</sup> Recently, a number African and western scholars have challenged this stereotypical view of China’s investment in Africa. (Klaver and Trebilcock 2011, Brautigam 2009, Keenan 2008) Some have pointed out that the country’s focused interest in Africa’s energy and mineral resources, even if true, is not that different from the FDI traditionally attracted to the continent. (Moyo 2012, Yao 2012) Others have argued that the net impact of China’s involvement in Africa, especially in the infrastructural development, has been tremendously positive, as investment in transportation and power is exactly what Africa urgently needs. (Foster and others 2007) Most interestingly, more studies have shown the evidence of growing Chinese firms in Africa’s laborintensive manufacturing sector, which creates jobs and assists in the early industrialization process in many host countries. (Ali and Jafrani, 2012) There have been few studies on the role of the Chinese _private_ sector in its OFDI to Africa, although several Chinese scholars have noticed its important impact on the increasingly diverse and dynamic nature of China’s investment in the world and in Africa. (Gu, 2009; Xiao and Chen, 2008; He, 2004) The latest Chinese official announcements have provided some clues: by 2011 a significant 45% of China’s total OFDI was attributable to its private sector players.<sup>7</sup> More importantly, in many parts of Africa, the wide range of up-and-coming Chinese businesses – manufacturers of textiles, shoes, ternaries, food products, along with restaurants, wholesale and retail centers and other service providers – have become an everyday sight one can hardly miss. These businesses are seldom run by large Chinese SOEs, but mostly by small and medium sized private Chinese investors, who are often producing outside China for the first time, and who hardly speak any language other than their mother tongue. Exactly who are they, and where are

> 5 See _East Asia Forum Quarterly_ Volume 4 No.2 April-June, 2012, which is devoted to “China’s Investment Abroad,” featuring a collection of articles by nineteen international and Chinese scholars and policy experts contributing to a wide range of views and opinions on the topic. 6 _Ibid_ .

> 7 See Wei and Ding, “Private investors play bigger role overseas,” China Daily (USA), Aug 31-Sept 2, 2012, p.13.

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