Talk of World Dreams and Business on Chinese President’s First Overseas Trip

BEIJING â€" Even as President Barack Obama was wrapping up a Mideast trip - his first to Israel as president - during which he discussed war and peace, a new world leader, Xi Jinping, had begun his first overseas trip as the Chinese president, amid talk of dreams, business and even “a new type of inter-power relations.”

His destinations Russia, with which China shares a long border (the two nations have been both close allies and bitter enemies in the six-plus decades since China’s revolution in 1949) and Africa, where Chinese investment is leapfrogging, from less then $100 million in 2003 to about $14.7 billion now, according to the International Business Times. China’s annual trade with Africa has boomed to around $200 billion, the report said, citing China’s Ministry of Commerce, compared with just $10.5 billion in 2000. China overtook the U.S. as Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009.

In Russia, Mr. Xi called for closer cooperation in foreign policy, the economy and the military, my colleagues David M. Herszenhorn and Chris Buckley reported, saying China and Russia had shared goals as they “seek to offset the influence of the developed West.”

Also, “Xi is signaling a long-term commitment to Africa,” Ross Anthony, research fellow at the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa told the International Business Times.

On Sunday, Mr. Xi was due to arrive in Tanzania for the second leg of his nine-day, four-nation tour, which will continue to South Africa and Congo Republic.

Given the scale of the strategic and business interests involved, it’s probably safe to say that the trip “will reveal some important features of Xi’s concept of world order,” as Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said in a story by Xinhua, the state-run news agency. Mr. Shi is close to China’s foreign policy establishment, making his views significant.

What is that world order

At home, Mr. Xi has often talked about his “China Dream”. (The new president spelled it out in his inaugural address last Sunday. Here’s how Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post analyzed it: “In his maiden speech as head of state, Xi Jinping invoked his favorite concept of the ‘China dream’ and laid out a vision of a stronger nation with a higher standard of living for its 1.3 billion people during his administration.”

“Painting his vision of a great renaissance of the nation, Xi stressed that the ‘China dream’ could only be realized by seeking ‘China’s own path,’ cultivating patriotism and following the Communist Party’s leadership. ‘We must continue to strive to achieve the China dream and the nation’s great revival,’ he said.”)

That’s Mr. Xi’s vision in China.

“Pursuing the ‘Chinese dream’ of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is conducive to realizing the ‘world dream,’ and if the ‘world dream’ comes true, it could offer a sound external environment for the country to achieve the ‘Chinese dream,’ Shi said,” according to Xinhua.

Confused

Mr. Shi was more specific, sort of: “From the destinations of Xi’s first foreign trip, we can tell that China is committed to promoting democratization in international relations as well as a more just and reasonable international order and system,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.

A comparison with former President Hu Jintao’s first overseas tour in 2003, which included Russia, Central Asian neighbors and a European nation, France, highlights China’s shifting geopolitical interests and Mr. Xi’s determination to improve China’s image abroad, other Chinese analysts said.

In fact, at play is nothing less than “a new type of inter-power relations” that Mr. Xi hopes will upend old, zero-sum theories by promoting win-win cooperation, Xinhua reported.

“China now advocates a new type of cooperative relationship among all major powers, including leading powers among developing countries,” Xinhua wrote, citing the views of Ruan Zongze, deputy head of the China Institute of International Studies. (Mr. Ruan is also considered close to China’s foreign policy establishment.)

“We should adopt a new and open attitude toward all powers,” Mr. Ruan said.

It sounds promising, though it’s worth noting that in Africa, there is already a roiling discussion about the benfits and drawbacks of China’s intense interest in the continent, which many say is aimed at securing resources it needs to feed its fast-growing economy back home.

“China is not trying to colonize Africa in a 19th century way, but economically, the trade pattern with Africa resembles something of a colonial era, whether they like it or not,” said Mr. Anthony, the Stellenbosch University scholar, according to the International Business Times.

In Tanzania, Mr. Xi’s first stop (he will also attend a BRICS summit in South Africa this week), expectations of the trip are running high. But there are warnings.

“These are key issues to crosscheck: They are looking for resources to feed their industries, which Tanzania can provide,” said Abdallah Safari, the former director of the Tanzania-Mozambique Center for Foreign Relations, in an article in The Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper. “But what does Tanzania get in return”

“The bulk of stuff going out is raw material and the bulk of stuff coming in is manufactured goods, which is bad for African countries because they are not adding any value to the economy,” he said.

And Bashiru Ally, of the University of Dar es Salaam, called for a new approach to relations between China and Tanzania, “given that they are currently based on resources,” the newspaper wrote.

“It is a one-way relationship,” said Mr. Ally. “That means giving more while receiving less. All they are doing is define their intentions towards our resources. The ideal situation would be for the relationship to change to an equal profits one,” he said.