中
国正在扩大与非洲各国的政治经济关系，在非洲的影响力迅速增强，引起美国政府担忧。
Per-Anders Pettersson for The Wall Street Journal
图为去年年底在埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴，来自中国和埃塞俄比亚的建筑工人在非洲联盟新总部的施工现场。中国将为此次援建出资2亿美元。
对比非洲政界对中国的欢迎，非洲大陆各地也对中国企业给员工的待遇表达了不满，并对部分企业的环境纪录表示担心。
在津巴布韦，就连总统穆加贝(Robert Mugabe)的反对者也都对中国专注于不带政治附加条件的商贸表示欢迎。
副总理穆坦巴拉(Arthur Mutambara)说，中国模式告诉我们，不遵循西方模式照样也可以取得成功。穆坦巴拉是反对党成员，他所在的政党与穆加贝是一种尴尬的联盟关系。穆加贝与北京方面关系密切。
经济合作与发展组织(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)数据显示，美国是津巴布韦的最大援助国。经合组织成员不包括中国。美国很大一部分援助是通过非政府组织落实的，其中一部分组织对津巴布韦政府持批评态度。很多官员对美国的援助不太认可。在美国上过大学的45岁政治家穆坦巴拉说，我最喜欢中国。
相关报道
美国国务院负责经济事务的副国务卿霍马茨(Robert D. Hormats)说，相当明显，国家引导的资本主义模式正被当作中国的软实力工具而使用；它是一个更大概念的一部分，即中国经济模式是成功的，可用于其他地方。
霍马茨说，最近一次中美战略与经济对话曾讨论过中国在非洲的投资。美国官员曾表示支持中国对非洲经济体的投资和援助，但他们也曾说，北京应当为了反腐败而采取更加透明的资助方式，并遵照国际惯例执行更严格的环境和用工标准。美国官员认为，这样做可能符合中国利益，因为大项目不会取决于具体的当地政府或官员。
中国方面说，它只是在做生意（主要为支持国内经济），并在跟非洲政府打交道。中国政府非洲事务特别代表刘贵今说，中国并没有为了反击西方模式而推行某种具体的发展模式。他在5月份接受采访时说，我们所做的是分享经验；相信我，中国不想输出我们的意识形态、我们的治理方法、我们的模式；我们并不把它当作一个成熟模式。
很多非洲领导人则有另一番感受。
2007年以来从美国政府累计获得了40多亿美元援助的埃塞俄比亚就赞扬中国的经济增长，批评西方国家"头痛医头、脚痛医脚"的发展途径。埃塞俄比亚总理梅莱斯(Meles Zenawi)曾痛斥"极端新自由派"批评他对异议的强硬态度，如关押记者以及在首都布满监控摄像头等，这些摄像头都是从中国一家安保公司采购的。
南非不断派高级官员到位于北京的中共中央党校学习国企治理之道，以增加企业盈利。此外，中国还帮助阿尔及利亚、尼日利亚、赞比亚和其它非洲国家建立经济特区，吸引外国投资。这种做法类似于当年中国实施的对外改革开放。
中国纺织商、房地产开发商和餐馆也都追随中国国企来到了非洲大陆。对很多想办法吸引外商投资的非洲新兴经济体的领导人来说，中国这种国家驱动型资本主义和创业激情结合在一起的模式非常诱人。
印度大型综合企业塔塔非洲公司(Tata Africa)的董事总经理达万(Raman Dhawan)说，中国模式适合非洲，因为非洲需要投资。该公司的项目遍及非洲大陆。
据中国国务院的统计，中国去年超过美国，成为非洲最大的贸易伙伴，双边贸易额达到1,140亿美元，远高于2000年的100亿美元和1980年的10亿美元。
非洲开发银行集团(African Development Bank Group)首席经济学家Mthuli Ncube表示，就整个非洲大陆来看，中国达成交易的速度远超美国。据他估计，中国公司在去年非洲签订的企业合同中占40%，而美国公司仅占2%。
与常把援助资金给予非政府组织的美国不同，中国大多是通过政府实体来进行援助，通常他们会跟非洲领导人进行协商，确定其优先发展领域。
2010年9月，中国和加纳签署了150亿美元左右的贷款协议，用于加纳的基础设施和其它项目建设，当时这个西非国家正开始从一个新发现的大油田中开采原油。2009年，中国和矿产资源丰富的刚果签订了60亿美元的贷款协议，用于基础设施项目。据非洲开发银行2010年的一份报告显示，中资银行向安哥拉提供了约90亿美元的贷款和其它融资。安哥拉是中国的第一大原油供应国。
在埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴，数百名中国人和埃塞人在共同修建有53个成员国的非洲联盟(African Union)的总部。中国将为造价2亿美元的高楼和会议中心"买单"。
中国官员说，虽然这座建筑象征着中非合作的不断加强，但他们不是在为争夺对非洲的影响力而和美国相互比拼。中国驻埃塞俄比亚大使馆负责管理这个项目的参赞曾华成(音)说，这不是中国和美国的较量，而是竭尽所能帮助埃塞俄比亚人民，如果我们不帮助他们，非洲人民就会受苦。
Peter Wonacott
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
China is expanding its economic and political ties with countries across Africa, resulting in a rapid rise in influence here that has sparked concern from the U.S. government.
Beijing's investment and aid to African countries aims to tap both natural resources and a growing middle class. As China burrows into local economies, leaders from South Africa to Ethiopia have been touting its model for development─one that stresses state-led growth, validates tight-fisted political control and offers a powerful counterpoint to the free-market democracy mantra promoted by the U.S.
The embrace of China in Africa's capitals stands in contrast with complaints also voiced around the continent about Chinese firms' treatment of workers and concerns over some companies' environmental records.
In Zimbabwe, even opponents of President Robert Mugabe welcome China's focus on commerce that doesn't link aid to politics.
'China's model is telling us you can be successful without following the Western example,' said deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara, a member of an opposition party locked in awkward coalition with Mr. Mugabe, who has deep ties with Beijing.
The U.S. is the largest foreign donor to Zimbabwe, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which doesn't count China as a member. The U.S. funnels much of its assistance through nongovernmental organizations, some of which are critical of Zimbabwe's government. That hasn't gone down well with many officials. 'China is my favorite country,' said Mr. Mutambara a 45-year-old politician who attended U.S. universities.
Washington has taken notice. Some U.S. officials say the number of governments in Africa finding favor with China's path of development gives Chinese firms an edge over U.S. competitors and reflects Beijing's strategic ambitions for the continent.
'It's quite clear that the model of state-led capitalism is being used as an instrument of China's soft power,' said Robert D. Hormats, the U.S. State Department's Under Secretary for Economic Affairs. 'It's part of a broad notion that China's economic model is successful and can be used elsewhere.'
Mr. Hormats said Chinese investments in Africa came up at a recent meeting known as the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. U.S. officials have supported Chinese investment and aid to African economies, but they have argued that Beijing should adopt more transparent financing to combat corruption and impose stricter environmental and labor standards to hew to global norms. Such practices could serve China's interests, U.S. officials say, because big projects wouldn't be tied to particular governments or officials.
'Our argument is that China can play a constructive role in Africa as investors─but they need to be responsible investors,' said Mr. Hormats.
China says it is simply doing business, largely to support an economy back home, and engaging African governments. Beijing isn't promoting a particular development model to counter a Western alternative, said Liu Guijin, China's special representative on African affairs. 'What we are doing is sharing our experiences,' he said in a May interview. 'Believe me, China doesn't want to export our ideology, our governance, our model. We don't regard it as a mature model.'
Many African leaders feel otherwise.
Ethiopia, which has received more than $4 billion in assistance from the U.S. government since 2007, has praised China's growth and criticized Western 'band-aid' approaches to development. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has lashed out at 'extremist neo-liberals' for criticizing his tough stance on dissent, such as jailing journalists and lining the capital with surveillance cameras, which were purchased from a Chinese security company.
South Africa has been sending top officials to Beijing's Communist Party School to learn how to run state-owned companies more profitably. China is also helping Algeria, Nigeria, Zambia and other African nations build special economic zones to attract foreign investment─similar to the laboratories for industrial reform that spurred its own opening to the world.
Chinese textile makers, real-estate developers and restaurateurs have followed China's state-owned firms onto the continent. That combination of state-driven capitalism and entrepreneurial zeal has set an alluring example for many African leaders seeking ways to generate investment in their emerging economies.
'The China model is appropriate because Africa needs investment,' says Raman Dhawan, managing director for Tata Africa, an Indian conglomerate with projects dotted around the continent.
China is now the continent's largest trading partner, edging out the U.S. Last year, its trade with Africa reached $114 billion, up from $10 billion in 2000 and $1 billion in 1980, according to China's State Council, or cabinet.
On a continental scale, China's deal-making pace far exceeds the U.S.'s, according to Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist at the African Development Bank Group. He estimates Chinese firms accounted for 40% of the corporate contracts signed last year, to 2% for U.S. firms.
Unlike the U.S., which often sends aid money to non-governmental groups, China mostly routes aid through government entities, usually in consultation with leaders about what their priorities are.
In September 2010, China and Ghana signed infrastructure-related loans and other projects valued at about $15 billion, just as the West African nation begins pumping crude from a massive new oil field. In 2009, China signed a $6 billion loan agreement with mineral-rich Congo for infrastructure projects. In Angola, a top supplier of crude to China, Chinese banks have extended about $9 billion in loans and other types of financing, according to a 2010 report from the African Development Bank.
In Addis Ababa, for example, Ethiopia, hundreds of Chinese and Ethiopians have been building the headquarters to the 53 member states of the African Union. China is footing the tab for the $200 million tower and conference center.
While the building is a symbol of tightening ties with Africa, Chinese officials aren't vying with the U.S. for influence, they say here. 'It's not China versus America. It's whatever helps the Ethiopians,' says Zeng Huacheng, who has been managing the project as a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia. 'If we don't help, Africans will suffer.'
Peter Wonacott
Beijing's investment and aid to African countries aims to tap both natural resources and a growing middle class. As China burrows into local economies, leaders from South Africa to Ethiopia have been touting its model for development─one that stresses state-led growth, validates tight-fisted political control and offers a powerful counterpoint to the free-market democracy mantra promoted by the U.S.
The embrace of China in Africa's capitals stands in contrast with complaints also voiced around the continent about Chinese firms' treatment of workers and concerns over some companies' environmental records.
In Zimbabwe, even opponents of President Robert Mugabe welcome China's focus on commerce that doesn't link aid to politics.
'China's model is telling us you can be successful without following the Western example,' said deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara, a member of an opposition party locked in awkward coalition with Mr. Mugabe, who has deep ties with Beijing.
The U.S. is the largest foreign donor to Zimbabwe, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which doesn't count China as a member. The U.S. funnels much of its assistance through nongovernmental organizations, some of which are critical of Zimbabwe's government. That hasn't gone down well with many officials. 'China is my favorite country,' said Mr. Mutambara a 45-year-old politician who attended U.S. universities.
Washington has taken notice. Some U.S. officials say the number of governments in Africa finding favor with China's path of development gives Chinese firms an edge over U.S. competitors and reflects Beijing's strategic ambitions for the continent.
'It's quite clear that the model of state-led capitalism is being used as an instrument of China's soft power,' said Robert D. Hormats, the U.S. State Department's Under Secretary for Economic Affairs. 'It's part of a broad notion that China's economic model is successful and can be used elsewhere.'
Mr. Hormats said Chinese investments in Africa came up at a recent meeting known as the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. U.S. officials have supported Chinese investment and aid to African economies, but they have argued that Beijing should adopt more transparent financing to combat corruption and impose stricter environmental and labor standards to hew to global norms. Such practices could serve China's interests, U.S. officials say, because big projects wouldn't be tied to particular governments or officials.
'Our argument is that China can play a constructive role in Africa as investors─but they need to be responsible investors,' said Mr. Hormats.
China says it is simply doing business, largely to support an economy back home, and engaging African governments. Beijing isn't promoting a particular development model to counter a Western alternative, said Liu Guijin, China's special representative on African affairs. 'What we are doing is sharing our experiences,' he said in a May interview. 'Believe me, China doesn't want to export our ideology, our governance, our model. We don't regard it as a mature model.'
Many African leaders feel otherwise.
Ethiopia, which has received more than $4 billion in assistance from the U.S. government since 2007, has praised China's growth and criticized Western 'band-aid' approaches to development. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has lashed out at 'extremist neo-liberals' for criticizing his tough stance on dissent, such as jailing journalists and lining the capital with surveillance cameras, which were purchased from a Chinese security company.
South Africa has been sending top officials to Beijing's Communist Party School to learn how to run state-owned companies more profitably. China is also helping Algeria, Nigeria, Zambia and other African nations build special economic zones to attract foreign investment─similar to the laboratories for industrial reform that spurred its own opening to the world.
Chinese textile makers, real-estate developers and restaurateurs have followed China's state-owned firms onto the continent. That combination of state-driven capitalism and entrepreneurial zeal has set an alluring example for many African leaders seeking ways to generate investment in their emerging economies.
'The China model is appropriate because Africa needs investment,' says Raman Dhawan, managing director for Tata Africa, an Indian conglomerate with projects dotted around the continent.
China is now the continent's largest trading partner, edging out the U.S. Last year, its trade with Africa reached $114 billion, up from $10 billion in 2000 and $1 billion in 1980, according to China's State Council, or cabinet.
On a continental scale, China's deal-making pace far exceeds the U.S.'s, according to Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist at the African Development Bank Group. He estimates Chinese firms accounted for 40% of the corporate contracts signed last year, to 2% for U.S. firms.
Unlike the U.S., which often sends aid money to non-governmental groups, China mostly routes aid through government entities, usually in consultation with leaders about what their priorities are.
In September 2010, China and Ghana signed infrastructure-related loans and other projects valued at about $15 billion, just as the West African nation begins pumping crude from a massive new oil field. In 2009, China signed a $6 billion loan agreement with mineral-rich Congo for infrastructure projects. In Angola, a top supplier of crude to China, Chinese banks have extended about $9 billion in loans and other types of financing, according to a 2010 report from the African Development Bank.
In Addis Ababa, for example, Ethiopia, hundreds of Chinese and Ethiopians have been building the headquarters to the 53 member states of the African Union. China is footing the tab for the $200 million tower and conference center.
While the building is a symbol of tightening ties with Africa, Chinese officials aren't vying with the U.S. for influence, they say here. 'It's not China versus America. It's whatever helps the Ethiopians,' says Zeng Huacheng, who has been managing the project as a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia. 'If we don't help, Africans will suffer.'
Peter Wonacott
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