The Political Economy of Nigeria – China Relations 1999 – 2010

Abstract

The relation between Nigeria and china has grown so much in recent years. This relation is governed by agreements which cut across political, trade, investment, aid, technical and military. The implementation of these agreements is uneven as China is strategically on the advantage side and Nigeria perpetually on the disadvantaged position. Therefore, the study examines the key features and patterns of the economic relations between Nigeria and China in order to establish an understanding of the impact of this relationship specifically to identify and examine the determinants of Nigeria–China relations; assess the relationship between economic reforms and the increase in trade between Nigeria and China; critically examine the relationship between economic reforms and increase in foreign investment between Nigeria and China. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. To analyse the issues raised, the study was anchored on the dependency theory. The research relied heavily on secondary source of data in order to substantiate the research hypotheses. The findings after a detailed review of the existing literature and analysis of available data were: Nigeria’s exports to china have been dominated by oil exports with few non-oil exports finding their ways into China; import concessions and preferential treatments granted to Chinese investors at the expense of Nigerians created a loss in revenue; Chinese manufacturers have gained at the expense of Nigeria because of their ability to produce and export cheap products to Nigeria thereby undermining Nigeria’s industrializations efforts. It is thus suggested that the Nigeria economy be diversified; exports and dependence on oil exports be balanced with other resources untapped; the local industries in Nigeria be given home grown policy protection in order to compete favourably with the Chinese manufacturers to boost industrialization efforts.