WITH all its potential advantages, the advent of China into several areas of the Nigerian economy is a development that requires constant monitoring. Nigerian no doubt needs China to reinvent its economy. But this must not be at the expense of the country's interest.Recently, China expressed the wish to make Nigeria the hub of its manufacturing business in Africa, a sort of import substitution industrialisation. This viewpoint was made public when Nigeria's Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, visited Chongqing, said to be the largest and most significant industrial city in China. It is a free zone, which contributes about 20 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product of China. The Director of the area, Mr. Weng Jieming, stated in clear terms that his government would encourage Chinese companies to export their products to Nigeria and support the automobile companies to invest in local production in Nigeria. Of course, Chinese inroad into Africa for business opportunities is no longer news. At the turn of the century, its efforts were revved up with huge investment in the oil, solid minerals and logging in Sudan, Gabon, Nigeria, Angola, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea among other countries on the continent. By 2008, China imported 30 per cent of its oil needs from Africa, compared to 47 per cent from the Middle East. Chinese presence in the continent is sizeable enough to alarm Western nations who have continuously warned Africans to beware of new colonisation from the Asian giant, regardless of the fact that they themselves have exploited and continued to perpetrate dependency in the continent through a complex web of neo-colonial policies.Nevertheless, Nigeria like other African countries has been the theatre of Chinese business operations. The country is the second biggest trading partner to China after South Africa. In 2006, China National Offshore Oil Corporation bought about 45 per cent stake in Nigeria's oil-for-gas field for about $2.27 billion and another oil exploration licence in the Niger Delta for $60 million. Chinese firms' investment in Nigeria is valued at $300 million (N48 billion) while the trade volume is put at about $10 billion. In this respect, China enjoys trade surplus against Nigeria. This is not solely a function of Chinese enterprise but rather a result of the activities of Nigerian merchants who go to source for low standard goods for immediate profit.Many Nigerians received the intended Chinese massive investment with enthusiasm and others with caution. The pessimists argued that about 80 per cent of all the industries in China were out-sourced from North America and not owned by China, and that if Nigeria wants a better deal, it should look up to the West for outsourced manufacturing instead of China.This development demands sober reflection. While globalisation has become a historical fact, it is directed by men and women and not the invisible market forces in the views of globalists. For this reason, we need to critically examine our country's relationship with China and how best Nigeria can maximise the relationship to the overall wellbeing of the national economy and its people. We might start by asking the following questions. One, what is China's policy towards Nigeria and Africa in general' Two, what is Nigeria's policy towards China' Chinese attitude flows from its foreign policy position: mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and the hedging of hegemonic designs of western powers. To this extent, China regards itself as the biggest developing nation and also acknowledges the fact that Africa has the largest number of developing nations. It has also proclaimed that western nations and not China colonised Africa, and that China was also a victim of imperialist exploitation and aggression. This reality, China believes, ought to nourish its relationship with the continent.Nigeria is yet to articulate its policy towards China, apart from opening its door to attract so-called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as China's cheap exports, which have fuelled the appetite of many unscrupulous Nigerian businessmen who treat their country, consumerist in nature, as a dumping ground for all manner of goods. This has consequently accounted for the current trade imbalance between the two countries in favour of China. Without a well-articulated policy on China by Nigerian policymakers, we cannot compete fairly with it. From a realist view, China as a rising economic and military power will likely exercise its hegemony at some point. Hegemony in concrete terms is domination. With a speculated unwritten policy of moving about 80 million Chinese into the continent, Africa stands the risk of recolonisation and swamping. Already, it is introducing its language, the Mandarin, into Nigerian schools gratis, with its trappings of cultural imperialism. It may be easier to fight political and economic domination than cultural domination. Nigeria, therefore, must be very careful, just as this possibility makes a continent-wide policy all the more imperative. We need to recognise that the Chinese are in Africa because they see more opportunities in it than in their own land. Besides, the scramble for Africa is real and the continent is being sucked in by imperialism again. In a unipolar world, the advent of China is good, but a clear rule of engagement with it will be invaluable.Specifically, Nigeria should spell out the local content of any investment in the country in clear terms. China's inroad into the country must be tied to specific sectors of the economy such as infrastructure, power, rail and oil refining. Besides, the huge disconnect between the thinking community and policy makers on Chinese involvement in our economy must be remedied, while the Nigerian public needs to be educated on the country's engagement with China. Our policy towards China can indeed be replicated for other foreigners desirous of investment in our country.
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