Assessment 3, write the tpic 2: The rise and role of China – Analyse the implications of China’s rise for Africa or the Pacific Islands

The Rise and Role of China
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China has established itself as the hub or rather the pinnacle of the global supply chain. It is heavily involved in the manufacture of various essential commodities that are in high demand in different countries. China continues to take advantage of the huge untapped emerging markets particularly in developing and underdeveloped nations in the African continent to further its ambitious plans. Through effective market research, China has understood the great potential in Africa and has created a competitive advantage by offering cheap products. Consequently, China has built a strong presence and continues to strengthen its position in Africa by providing some of the governments with loans to finance different investment projects. Nonetheless, there are critics who vehemently oppose China’s heavy involvement in the region. They note that China is taking advantage of the people by offering cheap substandard products. They further share that China is plunging most of the African nations deep in debt. The research paper purposes to extensively examine the rise and growing influence of China in the African continent with a key focus on the implications.
Background of the Rise of China and its Growing Influence in the African Continent
The Rise of China as a Global Economic Powerhouse
The 21st century continues to see China grow immensely economically not only within its borders but also internationally and in far end regions in continents such as Africa. The growth is a significant improvement from the anguish and suffering that characterized the Asian nation during the 20th century. The region that was once renowned for human rights violations continues to witness a huge turn around. According to Smith (2019), “The same China that’s famous for its human rights violations is the China that lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty as per capita GDP rose from $89 in 1960 to roughly $10,000 today”. Similarly, the living conditions in China have improved greatly and this is reflected by a rise in life expectancy from 43 years in 1960 to about 80 years today (Smith, 2019). From figure 1 below, China’s remarkable economic success is evidenced by the upward trajectory of the country’s GDP.
The GDP particularly rose by 9.5% annually from 1978 to 2018 and which in other words doubled every eight years. This mainly resulted because of the open-door policy instituted by Deng in 1979. The initiative opened up the nation and allowed it to stray away from the conservative attributes that hampered its effective trade in the global market. The move also served as the first step in propelling China into a global economic powerhouse (Rogoff, 2020). The great Asian nation has since gone on to establish itself at the center of the global supply chain. It has engaged in the manufacture of different essential products that are in high demand around the world.
Some of the factors that explain China’s rise as an economic powerhouse include labor supply, favorable political system/ strong leadership, free market economics, inclination towards exports, private enterprises, economic diversification, raw materials, population growt...