Cooperation and Development between China and East Africa

Under the influence of globalization, the friendly and cooperative relations between China and East African countries have developed rapidly and comprehensively, from the political exchanges of high-level leaders to the all-round close exchanges of the party, government, military, culture, and business, as well as the close cooperation between the two sides in economic and trade. Both indicate that China and East Africa have very close cooperative and development relations; the main reasons for the development of the cooperative relations between the two sides are due to the mutual needs of the two sides, the political situation of these African countries is basically stable, and the Chinese government has strengthened its African policy. Among them, the development of cooperation between China and Somalia can fully illustrate the tremendous efforts made by China and East African countries in bilateral cooperation. As the least developed region in East Africa and the continuous war, China and Somalia have overcome difficulties together. With the efforts of both sides, the continuous development of cooperative relations is promoted. At present, the development of bilateral relations between China and East Africa is satisfactory. There are still some problems in economic and trade cooperation. This article explains and proposes corresponding countermeasures.


Introduction
China values its relations with Africa as a whole. East Africa has attracted special attention because of two historical factors: First, as early as the early 15th century, the famous Chinese navigator Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty led a large fleet of ships to "go to the west" and visited East Africa many times (including

Friendly Cooperation and Exchanges between China and East African Countries in Economic and Cultural Aspects
China has long established diplomatic relations with East African countries and has signed economic, technological and cultural cooperation agreements with almost all East African countries. Since the 1960s, friendly cooperation has continued to develop, and in the 1990s, especially in the later period, it has developed more rapidly.

Increased Exchanges of High-Level Leaders
Most of the leaders of East African governments, including the president and the

All-Round Exchanges between the Party, Government, Military, Culture, and Business
Since the 1990s, exchanges between the ministries of the two governments have increased. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also established regular consultation systems with some countries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya. More significant is that China has developed relations between the ruling party and the military with many East African countries. The relationship between the ruling parties was established after 1979. At that time, a The cultural and educational cooperation between the two sides has also been continuously expanded. China has signed cultural and educational cooperation agreements with many East African countries. In 2000, the governments of China and Tanzania signed a higher education development cooperation project agreement. The Chinese government provides countries in East Africa with a total of about tens of international student places each year to study in Chinese universities. According to the cooperation agreement between China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Education of Ethiopia, since June 2001, China has sent 72 agricultural and urban vocational teachers to Ethiopia to apply to teach in Ethiopia, training local professional teachers and students. In recent years, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also organized training courses for administrative and technical cadres to provide training services for African countries, and some East African countries have sent representatives to participate. In addition, cultural groups such as the Tianjin Acrobatic Troupe of China and the Kenya Dance Troupe exchanged visits. China has also sent song and dance troupes, acrobatics and folk ensembles to Seychelles and the Comoros and hosted a film week. China continues to send medical teams to Eritrea, Comoros, Seychelles, Djibouti and other countries.
The media of both sides continue to develop cooperative relations. The news from Xinhua News Agency has been widely adopted by newspapers from various countries in East Africa. In May 2001, the governments of China and Kenya signed a cooperation agreement on radio and television. China Central Television sent reporters to Africa (including East Africa) for interviews. In October

Rapid Development of Economic and Trade Relations
Since the late 1990s, economic and trade relations between China and East Africa have developed rapidly. It is mainly reflected in the following aspects:  (Stahl, 2012). As an example, China's investment in the seven East African countries has shown a steady and steady growth. The specific data is shown in Figure 2. 4) Engineering contracting. This business has developed rapidly. According to official statistics, China's contracting value and turnover in East Africa have continued to grow. However, the situation is different in different countries. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Seychelles and other countries have developed rapidly and a large amount. In addition, the contracting business of Chinese companies with Madagascar and Eritrea is also developing steadily. 5) Labor cooperation. Labor cooperation between China and East African countries is also increasing, although it is still unstable in some countries. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, the contract value and turnover of labor service cooperation have increased from nearly $1.7 billion and $400 million in 2000-2005 to $3.48 billion and $1.236 billion in 2006-2010. The largest labor service is Mauritius, whose contract value and turnover accounted for 58.4% and 67.7% of the entire East Africa from 2006 to 2010, respectively (Jianxin, 2016). Kenya, Madagascar, and Ethiopia have developed particularly fast, and their labor service contracts have increased by more than 10 times during the same period.

Reasons for the Rapid and Comprehensive Development of Friendly and Cooperative Relations
China-East Africa friendly and cooperative relations have been developing, especially since the late 1990s, and have developed rapidly and comprehensively. The main reasons are as follows:

China's Political Situation Is Stable and Its Economy Continues to Grow at a High Speed
The political situation of countries in East Africa ( chelles. There are also many overseas Chinese in Tanzania and Kenya. Many people have joined the local nationality, but the vast majority of people love the motherland, and the Chinese government has a responsibility to care for them and also needs them to contribute to the cause of the motherland's reunification and development.

The Chinese Government Constantly Adjusts Its Policies and Measures in Accordance with Changes in the Situation
China's Africa policy can be roughly divided into three periods. From the 1950s to the 1970s, he focused on internationalist assistance, made friends, and mentioned "mutual benefit," but as far as China is concerned, it mainly refers to diplomatic and political interests. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the principles of equality and mutual benefit, diverse forms, and common development were put forward, and cooperation forms such as joint ventures, cooperative management, engineering contracting, and technical training were started. But this is only a trial period. Since the late 1990s, the changes have been greatest.

Cooperation between China and Somalia
The cooperation between China and East Africa was achieved through the un-

Basic Situation of Somalia
The Somalia Peninsula, the easternmost part of the African continent, is the junction of Africa and Asia. It faces the Gulf of Aden in the north, faces the Arabian Peninsula across the sea, borders the Indian Ocean in the east, borders Kenya and Ethiopia in the west, crosses the border with Djibouti in the northwest, and crosses the southern end of the equator. The country covers an area of 637,660 square kilometers, including 627,340 square kilometers of land area and 10,320 square kilometers of water area. With a land border of 2340 kilometers and a coastline of 3200 kilometers, it is the country with the longest coastline in Africa. Most regions have a tropical desert climate, and the southwest has a savanna climate, with high temperatures all year round, dry and little rain. Somalia is one of the least developed countries in the world. The economy is dominated by animal husbandry and the industrial base is weak. In the early 1970s, due to excessive nationalization policies and factors such as natural disasters, the economy was severely difficult. In the 1980s, with the support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, economic policies were adjusted and the economy improved for a time. After 1991, due to internal disturbances, industrial and agricultural production and infrastructure were severely damaged, and the economy collapsed. In recent years, the situation in some jurisdictions has been stable and the economy has improved.
The main anti-government force in Somalia is the Al-Shabaab, a youth jihadist organization in Somalia: formerly a youth armed organization under the Somali Anti-Government Alliance of Islamic Courts (ICU), which is mainly responsible for protecting the leader of the alliance and implementing targeting against foreigners Assassination. After the ICU was defeated at the end of 2006, "Sabab" inherited its mantle, and took advantage of the weakness of the Transitional Federal Government and the withdrawal of Ethiopia (Zhang & Hu, 2016). Ethiopian armed forces, and its scope of activities has been significantly reduced.
In September 2014, the organization's former top leader, Godani, was killed by US warplanes in southeastern Somalia. This terrorist organization has had a devastating effect on Somalia's politics, economy, and society in the past few years, which has seriously hindered the development of Somalia. At present, the strength of the organization is not as good as before, but it is still an important factor affecting Somalia's economic and social development.

Relations between China and Somalia
China and Somalia established diplomatic relations on December 14, 1960. At the end of 1990, the civil war in Somalia broke out, and the Chinese embassy, medical team and engineering and technical personnel in Somalia were forced to evacuate in January 1991. Since then, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya has taken charge of Somalia-related affairs.
China has always supported and actively promoted the peace process in Somalia, and served as the UN Security

Cooperation Process
At the end of 1990, the civil war in Somalia broke out. Because of this chaotic situation, many countries' embassies in Somalia have been withdrawn, even China is no exception. However, unlike the United States, although China has withdrawn its ambassador, for 20 years, it has not given up its aid to this land. China has been helping Somalia to build infrastructure free of charge. This is simply good news for the Somali people who live in the flames. Also because of China's selfless help, their perception of the Chinese has gradually changed, and the unhappiness caused by the withdrawal of the embassy has been bridged. The country sincerely thanks China for its help.
Although the war in Somalia is fierce, its demand for manufactured products and daily necessities is still strong, and because of its poor consumption capacity, its expectations for Chinese products are even higher. Habib, the concierge officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia, once said, "Everything is made in China, the world cannot be separated from China, and Somalia needs China!" Even Somali businessman Ali Gia, who has shipping branches in many cities around the world, Bo said: "China's strong infrastructure construction capacity and manufacturing industry can well help the development of Somalia, which is awaiting development. Somalia needs China." Until June 30, 2014, in order to further promote the development of friendly and cooperative relations between China and Somalia, China decided to resume the embassy in Somalia, and sent a restoration team to Somalia on July 1. Perhaps it is precisely because of China's help that chaos in Somalia is not hostile to China.
Despite the extremely difficult situation in Somalia, there is likely to be hope for the country to emerge from the crisis in the near future. Somalia and Djibouti mentioned that other countries along the coast of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean are very important to the Belt and Road Initiative and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road project. The Belt and Road Initiative is extremely important to China. It cannot be ruled out that this has forced China to take effective measures to restore Somalia's economy and return the country to the path of peaceful development. In recent years, China has resumed its investment in Somalia and focused on the development of bilateral trade. In the five years from 2015 to 2019, China's trade with Somalia has increased by more than 10% each year. China has become Somalia's largest international trading partner. In 2006, the bilateral trade volume between China and Somalia was US$750 million, an increase of 14.9% year-on-year, of which Chinese exports were US$731 million, an increase of 14.95%, and imports were US$19 million, an increase of 13.06% (Maweu, 2016). Specific trade data are shown in Figure 3.
Although compared with other countries, the total trade volume between the two sides is not large, but considering the years of war in Somalia, the cooperation between China and Somalia has now re-entered a good stage of sustainable development, and the trade structure has evolved from traditional single aid to Bilateral economic and trade cooperation, capacity cooperation, and industry docking; at the same time, Chinese companies have also begun to increase investment in engineering construction in Somalia. In 2019, our company signed a new project contract value of 29.71 million US dollars in Somalia. The strengthening of infrastructure will inevitably bring more cooperation in the economic and trade field, China will continue to maintain Somalia's position as the largest trading partner and largest source of imports.

The Domestic Political Situation and Security Situation in East African Member States Are Not Very Stable
The unstable domestic political situation and security situation of East African member states is one of the main reasons hindering economic and trade cooperation between China and East Africa. The member states of East Africa have great instability in the political structure and security situation, among which Burundi and South Sudan are the main ones. After the civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013, the political and security situation in the country was very unstable. After the political crisis broke out in Burundi in 2015, domestic violence occurred frequently and its nationals fled to neighboring countries to take refuge. Affected by the civil war and violence, there are huge risks in economic and trade cooperation between China and East Africa. In addition, Kenya's religious conflict is particularly evident (Mingdong, H. & Farm, 2014). Muslims in the country pray regularly every day, and Chinese companies cannot avoid hiring Muslim employees when recruiting employees locally, and the prayer times of these personnel conflict with the progress of company projects in some ways, which is not conducive to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Lack of Certain Ability to Resist Trade Risks
Since the economic and trade cooperation between China and East Africa, there is a lack of ability to resist trade risks. According to relevant statistics, in the course of economic and trade cooperation between China and East Africa, the economic and trade volume in 2001 and 2009 declined. Especially in 2009, the trade volume between China and East Africa dropped by as much as 60% (Maxi, 2008). The main reason for this phenomenon is that the economic and trade cooperation mechanism between China and East Africa is not perfect, and the East African member states have a high degree of economic dependence on European and American countries, which leads to the lack of a certain ability to resist trade risks.

Imbalance in Trade between China and East Africa
Since the establishment of the China-Africa Forum in 2000, China's relations with African countries have developed well, and the absolute value of China's net exports to East African countries has gradually decreased, and the trade balance between the two sides has gradually stabilized and is moving in a good direction. However, due to the impact of global economic integration and the financial crisis in recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between China and some countries in East Africa has experienced large fluctuations, which has caused the originally stable trade to start to become unbalanced. The main reason for this phenomenon is the impact of the structure of China's and East African import and export products. Most of the products exported from East Africa to China are mainly agricultural products and mineral resources, while those imported from China are mainly textiles and clothing (Weizhong, 2011). As a result, the price difference between import and export products between East African countries and China is large, and the demand for products between China and East Africa is not balanced, resulting in a great imbalance in trade between China and East Africa.

Strengthen Political Cooperation and Create a Stable Environment for Economic and Trade Development
At present, the domestic political structure of East African member countries is volatile, which hinders the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides to a certain extent. To this end, East African member states first need to stabilize the domestic political situation and provide a stable development environment for bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Secondly, East African member states should also deepen policy information exchange with China in order to provide a stable development environment for bilateral trade cooperation. With China's "Belt and Road" initiative, trade cooperation can be developed with the help of the "Belt and Road" initiative. China can help East African member countries develop their domestic infrastructure construction, so that the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides can be further developed.

Strengthening the Ability to Resist Trade Risks
In order to strengthen the economic ties between China and East Africa, both China and East African member states should encourage domestic enterprises to engage in deeper economic cooperation in order to effectively improve the ability of both sides' economic and trade cooperation to resist trade risks. With the gradual deepening of trade cooperation between China and East African member countries, the investment and financial needs between China and East Africa will also become stronger. China should encourage domestic enterprises to invest in East African member countries, conduct financial activities, or directly establish multinational enterprise alliances in order to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation and further enhance their ability to resist trade risks.

Adopting Various Measures and Methods to Alleviate the Imbalance in Bilateral Trade
With the increasingly fierce international trade environment, the trade environment between China and East Africa is complex and diverse. In addition, the laws and regulations on economic and trade cooperation between China and East Africa are not complete. East Africa is greatly affected by the European and American economies, resulting in great imbalances in trade between China and East Africa. In this regard, both China and East Africa should actively adjust their foreign trade policies and give them policy support in economic and trade cooperation. In addition, China and East Africa should, as far as possible, be in line with international standards when formulating relevant laws and regulations, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of both sides and promote the common economic development of China and East African member states.