This book investigates China’s contemporary development cooperation mentality and modality through the case of its agricultural engagement with Africa. It identifies three models, namely traditional agro-aid, innovative agro-aid and agribusiness models, of Chinese current agro-development cooperation with Africa, and unpacks the different models by tracing their historical origins and examining the actual practice based on project-level fieldwork conducted in Mozambique and South Africa. The book provides a preliminary and qualitative evaluation of China’s current agro-development cooperation with Africa, and explains the ‘implementation gaps’ as observed on the ground adopting a public policy approach. It also compares the Chinese way of development cooperation with that of the traditional donors (particularly the OECD-DAC members), and calls for a broadening understanding for international development cooperation that can allow win-win ideology and embrace diversified cooperation forms beyond the official development assistance (ODA).

Lu Jiang is a research fellow of the International Development Cooperation Academy based at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, and a research associate with Fudan Development Institute in Shanghai. She gained her PhD degree in International Relations at London School of Economics and Political Science.