"China's quest for African resources: the new scramble or strategic partnership": Successful International Conference and Winter School at the University of Wroclaw, Poland, December 2009

International conference "China's quest for African resources: the new scramble or strategic partnership" at the University of Wroclaw, 14-15 December 2009.

The conference brought together close to 90 academics, NGOs' practitioners and students. The participants represented a number of countries such as Poland, Germany, Holland, UK, South Africa, Angola, Nigeria, China, Taiwan, Belgium, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Australia, Norway, India. The programme was build up around eight thematic sessions: Chinese involvement in Africa: capturing the big picture, China and the West in Africa: competition and collaboration (part 1 and 2), China and India: Asian emerging giants’ clash over African riches, China’s encounters with Africa (part 1 and 2), Taming the dragon: from multilateral to grass root level and Socio-cultural and environmental dimensions of Sino-African relations. The conference enjoyed a great deal of publicity and the large audience assured a vibrant and engaging discussion. It also provided a stimulus for further research. A comprehensive conference report is due to be published shortly and placed on the Institute’s website. The list of outcomes goes far beyond the event itself. The conference offered an unprecedented opportunity for academics from the Eastern Europe to discuss potential collaboration, possibilities of launching joint projects and strengthening African Studies in this very part of the European Union. An edited volume (I. Taylor, D. Kopiński, A. Polus ed.) is due to be published in 2010 as a collection of selected papers presented during the conference.

International Winter School "China in Africa: challenges and opportunities" at the University of Wroclaw, 14-19 December 2009.

The Winter School was designed for MA and PhD students representing different Eastern European universities. Thirty applicants were selected to attend in the workshop from the EU new member countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania. The students were also encouraged to take part in the conference where they were introduced to the topic of Sino-African relations and offered a chance to share their views. The winter school consisted of seven sessions that were held over the course of four days. The sessions included Economic Prospects and Political Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa by Dustin Dehez (Free University Berlin), EITI Implementation in Nigeria: a civil society viewpoint by Uche Igwe (Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)), China's trade policy and China-Africa trade relations by Chien-huei Wu (National Chung Cheng University), Civil Society Engagement in the Natural Resource Sector by Anneke Galama (Netherands Insitute for Southern Africa, NIZA), China's role as a developmental financier/development partner by Lucy Corkin (University of London), China's appetite and the big piece of cake by Grzegorz Walinski, former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Nigeria, Misperceptions on Sino-African Relations by Ian Taylor (University of St Andrews). The winter school participants were awarded a certificate and are expected to disseminate the principles of Fatal Transaction in their respective countries.