Author: Luke Hurst, ANU 

The scramble to expand iron-ore export capacity in West and Central Africa strongly signals that Australia’s iron-ore luck is at risk of running out.

Pressure from African governments to bring iron ore to market while the price is high, coupled with Chinese investors’ willingness to provide the capital in operationally risky countries has created the potential for significant overcapacity in the market over the next five years. Read more…

Authors: Luke Hurst, ANU and Bijun Wang, Peking University

Australia has certainly lived up to its billing as ‘the lucky country’ over the last decade — the scramble to feed China’s appetite for minerals has pushed Australia’s terms of trade to historic highs.

But as Chinese investors face growing operational difficulties and new supply alternatives for their natural-resource demands, Australia must now work to make its own luck to attract Chinese money in mining and in other sectors. Read more…

Author: Luke Hurst, ANU

There has been a change in ideological sentiment on China’s involvement in Africa. The paradigm shift has been led by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s bestseller, Dead Aid, which gave voice to the possibility of a development model defined by diligent business practices as opposed to the traditional Western model which is driven by foreign aid. If managed prudently the Sino- African relationship could prove to be an empowering change for several African governments and provide the foundation for the continent to take its place as a partner in the global economy.

For China, Africa is an excellent complement to its resource and market-seeking global agenda. Since 2000 China-Africa trade has grown at an average annual rate of 33.5 per cent. Read more…