Observations: Has the Arrival of Chinese Labour Resulted in Local Jobs Being Taken?

This chapter contributes to the emerging literature on ongoing debate about the impact of China’s cash flows on the development of recipients countries by focusing on Chinese African trade and investment activities. Using the method of structured focused comparisons of two countries, Angola and Rwanda, I want to assess whether China’s expanding economic relations towards Angola and Rwanda differ or structurally having similar impacts on the development of their economies. First, I explore the impact of Chinese labour migration as the starting point for my analysis. I argue that China’s presence in the two countries produces different variations of impacts which pose the question of who benefits from Beijing’s rising economic influence in Africa and in the two countries, in particular. I then examine the issue of employment generation for youth to capture the impact of China’s trade and investment, across the population by age and gender to see whether young people are benefitting, or does the benefit only go to those in power who help China to further its investment goals it seeks to achieve.