The Status Quo and Prospect of Chinese-funded Enterprises Technology Transfer to Africa

By Yang Guang， Li Xinfeng and Chen Mo Institute of West Asia-African StudiesChinese Academy of Social Sciences， CASS

The Status Quo and Prospect of Chinese-funded Enterprises Technology Transfer to Africa

By Yang Guang， Li Xinfeng and Chen Mo Institute of West Asia-African Studies
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， CASS

Weak technical foundation is an important bottleneck to restrict economic growth of African countries. To promote the technological progress of Africa， the Chinese African strategy always encourages and supports Chinese-funded enterprises to transfer technology to Africa， but it is worth nothing that the critique by some African scholars and local communities on technology transfer to Africa by the Chinese-funded enterprises is spreading. In fact， in order to implement the "localization" strategy， develop African market or honor cooperation agreement on additional technical transfer， Chinese-funded enterprises always adhere to actively carrying out technology transfer to Africa， and have made certain achievements in improving the host countries' technical environment， increasing labor income and others. In order to cope with the challenges and dispel the crisis of public opinion， China should uphold the concept of "teaching how to fish" and push forward the continuous upgrading and optimization of technology transfer to Africa all-dimensionally.

The definition of technology transfer is that technology as a productive factor， by paid or unpaid channels， flows to other countries from home country. Technology transfer includes technology location transfer and technology patent right transfer. Technology transfer can improve the technology progress and production efficiency of the technology recipient side， and is an important factor of economic growth， which has been widely proved by the history and reality of the world economic development， is the successful experience of China's economic development，and undoubtedly can also become an important route to promote economic development of Africa.

In recent years， the African public opinion for strengthening technology transfer to Africa by the Chinese-funded enterprises is on the rise，among which there is some negative evaluation of the current situation of Chinese enterprises' technology transfer to Africa. In 2013， Hilary Patroba of South African Institute of International Affairs published an article arguing that technology transfer to Africa by the Chinese-funded enterprises was too low.1Frank Youngman of University of Botswana argued that Chinese-funded building enterprises in Botswana failed to provide skill and technology transfer.2In March 2013， Lamido Sanusi， governor of Central Bank of Nigeria criticized the Chinese-funded enterprises for failing to offer technology transfer to the local community.3In the same year， African Economic Research Consortium， a main African think-tank based in Kenya， in its report Impact of China-Africa Investment Relations：The Case of Ethiopia also criticized Chinese-funded enterprises saying that their management skills transfer and technology transfer are extremely limited.4In early 2014， the Ethics Institute of South Africa carried out a survey on the evaluation of China's participation in African affairs with survey objects from 15 African countries. Survey results show that 40.1% of evaluation on the impact of Chinese enterprises on local economic development is negative. One of the reasons of the negative evaluation is complaints about Chinese enterprises failing to providetechnical transfer or technology transfer to the local community.5

In order to understand the objective situation of technology transfer by Chinese-funded enterprises to Africa， and to study the in-depth reasons of negative evaluation by African public opinion on technology transfer by Chinese enterprises，Researchers of West Asia-Africa Institute，Chinese Academy of Social Sciences，supported by "China Africa Joint Research and exchange program set up under the "China Africa Cooperation Forum"， in 2014 carried out a special research project in Madagascar Mauritius， Algeria and Morocco in Africa.

Major areas of technology transfer by Chinese-funded enterprises to Africa

The project team found， after an in-depth survey， technology transfer to Africa by the Chinese -funded enterprises was not vacant as criticized by the African public opinions concerned. On the whole， Chinese enterprises technology transfer to Africa occurs mainly in the following areas：

（A） Project construction methods and construction technology

The Chinese Government has for a long time in Africa aided a large number of construction projects. Since the reform and opening up， the status of the construction project contract is on the increase. In the field of construction engineering， Chinese construction enterprises transfer a large amount of construction engineering technology and construction methods to the local community. These techniques include not only simple skills such as the plaster smearing， brick and tile clueing， welding， construction machinery operating and others， but also include complex technology such as construction technical testing， technical drawing， on-site measuring，concrete pouring， temperature controlling and others. Team No.14， CRCC has been in business operation in Algeria for a long time and in line with the local market characteristics has developed 86 construction methods and 15 construction technologies， which are all transferred to local partners and enterprises free of charge.

（B） Operation and maintenance technology of mechanical equipments

This technology transfer occurs mainly in the fields of project contracting， manufacturing，equipments marketing and others， involving many types of construction machinery and production equipments such as excavators，loaders， scrapers， etc. spinning machines，knitting machines used by factory workshops，as well as airport high-end security equipment，TV stage lighting equipment， modern appliances， electronic products lines， mobile and fixed communication network equipments，etc.. Chinese-funded enterprises not only teach local workers and customers the skills for equipment operation， but also through the provision of post guaranty services， training courses， on-site technical guidance and other ways to teach local communities the skills for equipment maintenance.

（C） Information and communication technology

HUAWEI， ZTE and other Chinese communication enterprises have become world's leading communications solutions and equipment suppliers， and also Africa's largest information and communications technology service providers. Their technological development is significantly higher than some Western companies， and they transfer to the local people the modern information and communication technology usually through training local employees， and providing local operators and sub-contractors communications equipment debugging， configuration，maintenance and other aspects of training，

（D） Agricultural production technology

Since the beginning of the 1960s， Chinabegan sending agricultural technicians to guide land reclamation， teach agricultural technology，hydraulic projects in African countries. Having entered the new century， agricultural technical assistance is still an important part of China's technical cooperation with African countries. At present， China has signed agricultural technology cooperation agreements with many African countries， which increasingly institutionalizes the agricultural technology cooperation between China and Africa. In 2007 China aided Madagascar a hybrid rice demonstration center， spreading China's hybrid rice planting technology to Africa.

（E） Business management skills

Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa attach importance to training local talents to undertake the medium and senior management positions. In Algerian branch of the Chinese Construction corporation， local employees are promoted to serve project assistants. Especially those local people who have received training or learned Chinese in China are promoted to higher management positions. For example， in the Chinese-Mali joint venture sugar and textile factories， local employees are promoted to CEO as deputy general managers.

The main forms of Chinese enterprises' technology transfer to African countries

There are multiple forms of international technology transfer， which includes technology licensing trade， and also the international transfer of technology driven by franchise operation， direct investment， commodity trade and service trade， as well as international transfer of technology emerged in African markets such as training and technical cooperation. The forms of Chinese enterprises' technology transfer to Africa are multiple， in addition to a few cases of technology licensing trade， all other forms are in existence.

（A） Franchise operation

Franchise operation is a business operation model that franchisees agree， in the form of the contract， with franchiser to use its name，trademark， proprietary technology， product and operation management experience for the latter. Transnational franchise business are more common in sectors of fast food， restaurants，food， rent and leasing， auto sales and other industries， and franchise business of Chinese enterprises in Africa mainly in the area of auto sales. Chinese auto companies such as Chery，JAC， Geely and BYD have established franchise stores including "4S" stores in Algeria，Morocco， etc.， and transferred to operators professional skills including marketing and promoting skills， operation and maintenance of franchise stores， vehicle repair and maintenance， etc.

（B） Direct investment

Foreign direct investment is a comprehensive international economic activity，which often involves in international technology trade， technology and information sharing， import of technical equipment and software， and the flow of technical experts. Madagascar Kingdeer Cashmere Holding Co. Ltd. was founded in 1998， which applies production equipment and production technology by the Kingdeer in China， takes advantage of low cost labor， local quality water and preferential export quotas to Europe，expanded the scale of production and become a large-scale manufacturing enterprises with staff of 4353. Tianli Spinning （Mauritius） Holding Co. Ltd. was founded in 2001， which applies China's domestic first-class spinning equipment，spinning technology and management methods. In Algeria， Algerian holding joint ventures also use manufacturing technology of electrification products from the CRCC joint venture in production.

（C） Goods trade

Commodity is an important carrier of technology， goods trade can also produce technology transfer. Cooperation betweenChina's Hisense and Algeria's Condor is a typical case. From the relationship between the two sides， Hisense is only Condor's supplier，does not participate in its production and marketing activities， but from the need to maintain customers， Hisense transfers to Condor a large number of proprietary knowledge and technical support， including provision of moulds and moulds drawings，product prototypes and data， design and assembly production lines， and confirmation of basic operating specifications， etc.. Through cooperation with China Hisense， Condor's technical ability has greatly improved， and gradually shaped independent linearly development and software debugging Condor abilities.

（D） Service trade

Cross-border trade in services also tends to bring about transnational transfer of technology. At present， China's service trade to Africa is mainly construction projects contracting and communication services. Chinese-funded construction engineering enterprises more and more use the model of overall contract in contracting construction projects， and in the course of projects implementation as well as through hiring and training local employees， transfer a large amount of engineering technology in the forms of sharing technology with the host countries' partners， and submitting to the host country engineering drawings free of charge. Huawei，ZTE and other Chinese telecommunications service enterprises adopt the model of "handing in key" in undertaking projects in Africa， and transfer technology to local personnel through hiring a large number of local workers and sub contractors and provide a large amount of training.

（E） Technical assistance

China's technical assistance to Africa has played an important role in technology transfer. For example， Mauritius is in urgent need to obtain agricultural produces processing value-added technology. With assistance from China， the Food Technology Laboratory under the Mauritius Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security carries out technical exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese Food Fermentation Research Institute， send technicians to China to participate in the food processing and preservation technology training， and receiving Chinese experts on-site teaching， and develop a variety of food preservation and storage technology and related products locally， such as sweet potato chips，sweet potato cakes， white radish kimchi，fermentated Doufu， etc.. Again， after the China-aid Mauritius radio and television building is completed， China's technical working group carried out personnel technical training on the building's internal electrical system， air conditioning system， stage lighting，civil engineering， etc.， and provides technical materials and maintenance manual in English to the Mauritius technicians.

Specific methods for Chinese enterprises to carry out technology transfer to African countries

Chinese-funded enterprises mainly adopt 3 methods to transfer technology to local community： One is technical training； two is technical cooperation； and three is training of local management. In addition， the flow of local employees with Chinese enterprise technical training has also played a certain effect in promoting the dissemination of Chinese enterprises technology in Africa.

（A） Technical training

Chinese funded enterprises have various forms of technical training in Africa， which can be divided into the following 6 categories：

Firstly， carry out non-formal on-site technical training on the basis of one training one or one training several. This training form is more common in the field of contractingconstruction projects， training subjects are local construction workers， training content is mainly construction technology and operation skill of construction machinery， and this kind of training has obvious characteristics of "learning by doing". However， this non-formal on-site technical training can transfer relatively simple technology to host countries.

Secondly， organize special training activities such as training courses or central training in the host countries. This method is mainly for application and operation of high-end technical equipment or control system. for example，Mauritius new airport project built by Chinese Construction Co. uses advanced equipment and operating system such as three-dimensional "CT" security scanner， and the airport's "IT" information system. It invited professional engineers of those supplier to give training to airport technicians for a period of 3 months. The Chinese-aide Mauritius radio and television building project also uses a similar training method， Chinese side dispatches two groups of technical experts to give training on application technology of electrical system，stage lighting equipment， computer control system， etc. within the building. In Algeria，HUAWEI， ZTE organize professional and technical training， which cover 200 - 300 people annually.

Thirdly， organize local employees or partners to come to China for training. Compared with training organized in host countries， it is restrained by expensive travel costs， so Chinese enterprises are more selective in choosing the trainees. Algeria branch ZTE each year arranges 10 groups of local employees to go to the ZTE university of the company headquarters located in Shenzhen for training， and these trainees are mainly outstanding engineers. Hisense also arranges annually employees of Condor company --Algeria partner - to go to Hisense Quality Control Center in Qingdao for training on laniary， process control， product development，and the trainees are mainly the backbone force of the business.

Fourthly， establish regional training center. HUAWEI has established regional training centers in African countries such as South Africa， Kenya， Egypt， Morocco. In February 2012， HUAWEI Morocco Network Institute was built， which is the support platform for first French language training center and the first French speaking area information and communications technology （ICT） certification system landed in the region built by HUAWEI in the world.

Fifthly， provide support for the host government training programs. HUAWEI and Governments of Tanzania， Zambia， Angola have formulated the Information And Communication Technology Talent Training Program to help African countries systematically train talents for computer technology. Building the East-West highway project in Algeria， Team No.14， CRCC provided funds for the local government to hold training courses for training local construction workers. ZTE Algeria company and the Algerian Ministry of Post and Telecommunication jointly set up a training school to train local talents for communication，which has provided training for over 600 people. In addition， the Algeria company of China Construction Co. cooperated with Labor Bureau of Barcelona province to provide training for local construction workers， and awarded them technical certificates

Sixthly， provide internship opportunities for local college students. Providing internship opportunities for local college students is also an important form of technical training for African countries by Chinese enterprises. In Algeria， HUAWEI provides 40 internship positions for local college students every year，and those who have performed well during the internship will be hired by HUAWEI. Duringbuilding the East-west highway project in Algeria， Team No.14， CRCC provided internship opportunities for 100-200 Algeria national engineering college students.

（B） Technical cooperation

Technical cooperation refers to the transfer of advanced technical information or concepts to local departments or enterprises through establishment of cooperative relations between Chinese-funded enterprises and local governmental departments or enterprises. The means of technology transfer to Africa through technical cooperation by Chinese enterprises include sharing technical knowledge with host country partners in business activities， and setting up joint research institutions with host country enterprises and providing technical guidance for host country partners， etc.

Firstly， share technical knowledge with host country partners. Constructing the new airport projects in Mauritius， the Chinese Construction Co. reached an agreement with local enterprises， which are responsible for part of the construction work. In order to help these enterprises to complete construction of the complex project， the Chinese side hands over the construction drawings and construction schemes for the advanced construction technology such as the large-span box-type hoisted welding and large area optical glass roof instillation， and large sheet membrane film structure installation.

Secondly， establish joint research institutions with host country enterprises. The internationalization of R & D is an important form of international technology transfer. In Algeria， CRCC with local counterpart and other enterprises jointly established the railway research center， engaged in research work on desert railway technology， high-speed railway technology， traditional railway innovation technology and maintenance and management of railway operation， etc.

Thirdly， provide technical guidance to host country partners. China Water and Electricity group contracted in Mauritius a hydropower dam project， which is initially designed by a French company， but the original design was found to have serious defects， the technical experts team of the Three Gorges Hydropower Group and China Water and Electricity group through field visits proposed the flood dam and the Main Dam anti-earthquake amendments，and was accepted by the Mauritius side. While supplying parts of home appliances， electronic products to Condor， Hisense annually send engineers to Algeria to provide technical guidance and help Condor solve the problems encountered in the production process.

（C） Senior staff training

The employment rate of local management staff for Chinese companies in Mauritius and Madagascar is high. Management of HUAWEI Mauritius Co. Ltd. is mainly locally employed，among which 3 assistant managers at the senior level are all local employees， finance， supply chain， human resources assistants positions at the medium management level are taken by local employees. Beijing Construction Co. Mauritius Branch employs 20 local people as medium managers， most of them are promoted from ordinary workers and these positions include work of certain technical content such as coordinator， laboratory technician， mapping and measurement. China-Mauritius Public Engineering Co. Ltd. has a total of 39 staff on the management team， of which 28 are Chinese，11 Mauritius people， accounting for about 28% of the management team， 1 Mauritius served as deputy general manager. A deputy general manager of the Kingdeer Madagascar Co. Ltd. is a local employee， and deputy directors of 5 workshops are also local employees.

（D） The technology spillover

The emerging re-transfer of Chinese technology to Africa in the first place is a spillover effect of technology transfer and this effect is often associated with the flow ofpersonnel. This phenomenon is rather common in Africa. Chinese Construction Co. in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor of Bacelona province， Algeria， provide construction technical training for local people，and rewarded them with technical certificates for qualification， and those with the certificates can quickly find jobs in other construction sites and take the trained skills to new construction sites. In Morocco， Algeria， etc.， some local subcontractors trained by the Chinese telecommunications companies such as HUAWEI， ZTE， can directly provide the host country the installation， debugging commissioning and maintenance for communications equipments， thereby， further promoting the technology spillover effects of Chinese-funded enterprises in host countries.

Motivation of Chinese Enterprises to Transfer Technology to African Countries

The reason why Chinese enterprises transfer a large amount of technologies to Africa is inseparable from the market constraints， enterprise's motivation and the government's push.

（A） From the enterprise perspective

Firstly， provide technical training to host countries under agreement. The construction contract signed between a Chinese construction contractor and a host country has always set up a clause of providing technical training for the host country. In Algeria， in accordance with the agreement signed with the host country， CRCC allocates a sum equal to 4% of total wages paid to local workers to train local staff， 2% goes to old staff training and another 2% to new staff training. Zhongjian Algerian Co. every year allocates several million yuan for staff professional and technical training.

Secondly， use technology transfer as a tool to attract customers. In cooperation with Condor， Algeria， the reason that Hisense provides technical support for Condor is mainly for keeping customers stable. In order to ensure that Condor chooses Hisense products， Hisense helps Condor install and commission production lines， provides grinding machine and drawings， and sends engineers to provide on-site technical guidance， etc.， and carries out a large amount of technical transfer， so that Condor's production and business activities are benefited a lot， therefore， both sides attain mutual benefits and win-win results. While selling large-scale machinery to local customers， Madagascar Hongyuan Machinery Import and Export Co. Ltd. is responsible for installing equipments， commissioning， trial operation， technical training and maintenance work， its purpose is through the provision of value-added technical services to customers to enhance the competitiveness of its products in Madagascar market.

Thirdly， proceeding from the needs of “l(fā)ocalization” development strategy by the enterprises. With the sharp rise in China's domestic labor cost， the labor cost in Africa is obviously becoming more and more competitive. Therefore， taking into consideration the cost and efficiency， many enterprises have adopted the "localization" development strategy， expanded the use of local manpower， and carried out planned technology transfer to the local community.

（B） From the government perspective

China's policy on Africa constantly attaches great importance to technology transfer to Africa. Looking at the China's policy on Africa announced at the Sino-African Cooperation Forum--Ministerial Conference by the Chinese Government， technology transfer is an essential content. The Program for China-Africa Cooperation in Economic and Social Development in 2000 proposed that China will provide special funds to support and encourage Chinese enterprises with strength to invest in Africa， establish joint venture or cooperation projects effective and suitable forlocal needs， increase local employment， and transfer technology. The Chinese side is willing to provide modern and appropriate technology and management skills in the areas of projects contracting， technology and management cooperation." The Addis Ababa Action Plan in 2003 provides that China will further encourage and support enterprises of various ownerships with strength to invest in Africa，including establishment of joint venture enterprises aimed at encouraging technology transfer and creating employment opportunities for African countries. The Beijing Action Plan in 2006 put forward encouraging and supporting Chinese enterprises with strength and credibility to invest in Africa and to develop projects conducive to improving African countries technical level， increase employment and promote the local economic and social sustainable development. The Sharm el Sheikh Action Plan in 2009 emphasized that China will in cooperation of various fields encourage and promote technology transfer to African countries， including advanced technology having a significant impact on the national economic and social development in Africa. The Beijing Action Plan in 2012 proposed that China will continue to strengthen cooperation with Africa in the aspects of technology and management， increase technical support and experience sharing， and help African countries to improve the ability of independent development.

Effect of Chinese-Funded Enterprises Technology Transfer to Africa

The effect of Chinese-funded enterprises technology transfer to local community is mainly reflected in following four aspects：

（A） Improve technical environment of host countries and support pillar industries of African countries

Whether it is R & D technology or applied technology， the technical level of African countries is very low， although at the current stage Chinese enterprises mainly transfer applied technology to local community， yet through technology transfer， the technical environment of African host countries has been greatly improved. Firstly， Chinese-funded enterprises have cultivated a large number of skilled workers， increased the local technical reserves. Most of the local enterprises in Africa are lack of professional and operational technicians， and hiring skilled workers can significantly improve the work efficiency of these enterprises. Secondly， the introduction of advanced equipment and the transfer of relevant applied technology provide key support for the local social and economic development. For example， the construction of the Mauritius new airport terminal contracted by China Construction Co. used many world's advanced equipments， so that the airport hardware reaches the international level， while the training helps the airport staff master the operation skills of the equipments， and also improve the software level such as airport service and technical assurance. Mauritius is a tourism based country， the imported equipments and technology for the new airport is helpful to improve the competitiveness of Mauritius tourism， as a pillar industry of the national economy in the international market. The advanced equipments and technical training provided by HUAWEI for the African telecom operators greatly improve the local environment for mobile， fixed network， voice，broadband and others， and provide a critical infrastructure for the African countries to quickly step into the modern information society.

（B） Increase employees' income in host countries and raise living standards of African people

Africans， having received skills training，become skilled workers with one or more skills，improve their employment capacity in modernsectors， and their individual income level will also greatly improve； and they are more competitive in the labor market even if they change jobs. Cotton planting bases set up by Tianli Spinning in Madagascar hire a number of local residents， who are semi-nomadic， have no fixed boarding， and aging production tools，adhere to the traditional way of living， and have no production technology and capability. Through technical training， Tianli Spinning teach them the advanced planting technology，and to operate large mechanical equipments，and their level of productivity has a substantial increase， not only able to get a stable income，and the way of living also changes from semi-nomadic to settle down， so they are largely relieved of poverty.

（C） Help local people to embark on independent entrepreneurship， and promote African entrepreneurs to grow

Some technicians trained by Chinese enterprises embark on the road of independent entrepreneurship after a grasp of certain technology. A Mechanical operator trained by Mauritius branch of Beijing Construction Co. purchases machinery equipments through bank loans and lease them to Beijing Construction Co， and later buys more machine equipments for expansion and establishes a specialized company， not only continue to cooperate with the Corporation， but also take orders from other Multi-National Corporations. Such a case is not uncommon in Africa. Some skilled workers trained by Kingdeer Madagascar Co. Ltd， after their departure from the company， use the received science and technology to independently start their own business， open workshops with a dozen or score sets of looms. Madagascar branch of Team No.18， CRCC has trained some mechanical repair technicians，who having obtained skills also opened a repair shop， and together with the company's quality supervisor jointly opened a supervision company.

（D） Help Africa develop new industrial sectors， and accelerate its industrialization process

Before HUAWEI， ZTE and other Chinese-funded enterprises enter the African market， Africa's communications industry develops very slowly， the reason is that， then，the global communications solutions and equipment supply market were almost monopolized by the Western companies. Western companies' technical barriers and their indifference to the African countries market resulted in far behind development of the African countries communications sectors compared with other developing countries. The arrival of HUAWEI， ZTE has taken these countries communications sector onto the "fast lane" of rapid development. Chinese communication enterprises have not only introduced advanced communications equipments into Africa， helped African countries establish modern communication facilities such as fixed line， "2G/3G" communication， mobile broadband and others，but also teach local employees and subcontractors communication and information technology and knowledge through professional training， and train a group of engineering and technical personnel with advanced communication technology. These local engineers and sub-contractors that have received training by Chinese telecommunications corporations are capable to directly provide services for local telecom operators， independently install， commission and maintain communication equipments. Some other local companies through cooperation with Chinese telecommunication corporations design new applied platforms for local operators， have communication service products adapted to the local market and develop "APP" applied products. Therefore，technology transfer to the African countries by the Chinese enterprises push African countriesto develop communications industry by leaps and bounds.

Before establishment of cooperative relations between Hisense and Algeria Condor，Algeria basically had no production capability for family appliances and electronic products，and Western companies are only eager to export to Africa their finished products， but are not willing to transfer technology. With Hisense's technical help， Condor in 2004 set up a television production line， and in 2006 a refrigerator production line， so Condor's imports from Hisense change from electrical units into electrical parts. Based on the experience of technical cooperation with Hisense， Condor began contacting other Chinese- funded enterprises such as GREE，Gionee， and with afore company's technical help built production lines for air conditioner，notebook computer， flat-panel computer，household appliance， electronic product， and gradually realize localized production of home appliance and electronic product through importing semi-assembled parts or simple scattered parts. In the process of deepening technical cooperation with Chinese enterprises，Condor localization rate of household appliances， and electronic products continue to rise， at present， the Condor localization rate of flat-panel TVs has reached 7%-10% ， and the localization rate of refrigerator， air conditioners has reached 50% ～ 60%. Currently， Condor，through technical cooperation with Chinese enterprises， has become Algeria's largest supplier of electrical and electronic products. Its products not only go well in Algerian market， but also go to Egypt， Tunisia， United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries. It is the technology transfer of Chinese-funded enterprises that leads to rapid development of Algerian home appliance and electronic products manufacturing industry.

The Main Reasons For the Negative Public Opinions

Technology transfer to Africa by Chinese enterprises has achieved so many results， why have there emerged the related negative evaluation？ In our view， there are basically the following reasons.

First， there is lack of research and publicity on the Chinese side. Domestically，there is neither official statistics on China's technology transfer to Africa， nor the relevant systematic research results by the academic community. Since ourselves are not clear，naturally it is impossible to teach others. In Africa， Chinese enterprises mostly adhere to the principle of "doing good deeds without publicity" or "doing good deeds but making little publicity"， and some enterprises are even just care about profits with no publicity awareness. Therefore， the Chinese enterprises technology transfer achievements are unknown.

Second， the level of technology transfer is relatively low. Because of limitations of various conditions， the current technology transfer is mainly the transfer of operational skills and the transfer of technical rights is relatively little，and there is no typical project of technical rights transfer. Especially since the Western countries still dominate the engineering，equipment and operational standards， so the Chinese standard and criteria are difficult to enter the African market， African countries acceptance of China's technical standards and criteria are low， which is a major obstacle to China's implementation of large-scale technology transfer to Africa.

Third， the expectation of African side is high. In recent years， African countries have become increasingly unsatisfied with maintaining economic growth through exporting a large amount of resources， showing a strong aspirations for locally processing resources to extend the "value chain" of the local industry， and to accelerate the development of industrialization and solve theemployment problem. Scholars of African Studies such as South African Institute of African Studies publish a series of research papers on extending the African industrial "value chain"， which has exerted a great impact on African development concepts. To a large extent， the voice of African countries for technology transfer is rising， which is the portrayal of this new development concept. Comparatively， the technology transfer scale and level of Chinese enterprises have a big gap with this great expectation.

Fourth， the investment environment in Africa is poor. Although technology transfer can occur in many areas， yet， there is no doubt that its most powerful carrier is still direct investment projects. However， the frequent conflicts in Africa， the worrying security situation in some countries， more financial and investment restrictions， complex land system，poor infrastructure， small size of the market，rampant local epidemic， labor low quality and so on， restrict the attraction of direct investment in Africa and technology transfer

Conclusions

The technology transfer to Africa by Chinese-funded enterprises is not only a new challenge， but also a new opportunity for the development of China-Africa relations. We believe that：

（A） Technology transfer to Africa should be vigorously promoted. African countries call on China to strengthen the transfer of technology to Africa， reflecting the new development concept of African countries， and also the new expectations of African countries for China， which provides a new opportunity for the development of China-Africa relations. It is a proposal that the Chinese Government declare the principle on Africa of "teaching how to fish"， and promote the common development through a large-scale transfer of suitable technology to Africa.

（B） Strengthen research and promote publicity. Integrate governmental， academic，media and corporate force to carry out basic research on the technology transfer to Africa，promote understanding the concept of "teaching how to fish"， and further strengthen awareness of Chinese-funded enterprises to attain common development with African countries through technology transfer to Africa.

（continued to page 23 ）

Footnotes：

1.Hilary Patroba， "China in Kenya： Addressing Counterfeit Goods and Construction Sector Imbalance，" The South African Institute of International Affairs， China in Africa Project， Occasional Paper， No.110， March in 2012.

2. "Strengthening Africa - China Relations： A Perspective： From Botswana，" The Centre for Chinese Studies，Stellenbosch， November in 2013， Discussing Paper， P.11.

3.The http： the bdlive. Co. / www. / Za / Africa / africanbusiness / 2013 / 07 / 17 / Gigaba-urges-Caution-On-China-in - Africa， the 2014-11-240.

4.Alemayehu Geda and Atenafu G. Meskel， "Impact of China - Africa Investment Relation： The Case of Ethiopiay"， African Economic Research Consortium， CA， No.11 / July 2013.

5. Liesl Louw Vaudran， "SA Leads Africa in Anti-Chinese Sentiment " Feb.， 21， 2014， http： / / mg. Co. Za / article / 2014-02-20-sa-leads-frica-in-anti - Chinese sentiment， 2014 - 10 - 21.