Chinese Manufacturing Firms in Ethiopia

"Weiwei Chen successfully unpacks how Chinese manufacturing investment in Ethiopia becomes realised in everyday ways. Using unparalleled qualitative data collected over a decade this path-breaking book greatly enriches the still polarised and generalised accounts of ‘China in Africa’." – Professor Giles Mohan, The Open University

"You will likely have formed a view about ‘China in Africa’, one way or the other. But one way or the other is exactly what Weiwei Chen’s wonderful book helps you to abandon: there are multiple ways, great variation in the performance of Chinese manufacturing firms in Africa. Her brilliant, decade-long fieldwork in Ethiopia helps make sense of this variation." –  Professor Christopher Cramer, SOAS University of London

This book explores the diverse nature of Chinese manufacturing activity in Ethiopia and highlights how investments can be guided by local political economy conditions. It examines the economic potential of foreign direct investment and its role in facilitating structural change within African economies. The approaches taken by Ethiopia to steer investment towards development objectives are compared with global trends of industrial relocation and corporate adaptation to illustrate how foreign direct investment can benefit both China and African countries. Ethiopia’s proactive industrial policies are highlighted to show that African states can leverage Chinese manufacturing capital to enable industrial development and economic growth.

This book provides unique detail into the specific strategies used in Ethiopia to maximise foreign development and drive economic development. It will be relevant to students, researchers and policymakers interested in development economics, industrial policy, and the international political economy.

Weiwei Chen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at The Open University.