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This article evaluates whether the Sino-European partnership can be considered strategic. At the discourse level it is found that both sides fail to identify common interests, joint priorities continue to be concentrated in the business sector, and China and Europe have not been able to determine what the relevance of their relationship is compared to other powers. In practice this is even more problematic. The strategic vacuum renders the partnership vulnerable to setbacks and means that China will be even more tempted to capitalize on Europe's internal divisions while Member States will feel less inclined to close ranks.

The objective of this article is twofold. On one hand it elucidates the goals and dynamics of China's foreign trade policy since the 1990s. On the other hand it assesses the impact of this strategy on the development of the Central African Region as a case for China's influence on other developing countries. We observe that China is pursuing a pragmatic mercantilist policy that combines a wide array of diplomatic and economic devices. As a result the People's Republic gains ground slowly but surely. However, China's ascent does not lift the Central African states to a more favourable position in the global division of labour. We conclude that China's rise confirms the current economic position of African countries: that of a commodity supplier and a modest consumer's market.

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