China’s Africa strategy started to shift in 2019, towards investment. It is anchored in Hunan Province. The “Hunan Model” emerged because the “Angola Model” (building infrastructure and extracting resources) faced sustainability hurdles. Given the vulnerability of African countries to shocks, they often struggle to keep up with mounting debt repayments. The other factor was China’s changing domestic needs.
Traditional trade partnerships and growth corridors were also under increasing contestation and subject to high trade barriers. Under these pressures, Beijing selected Hunan Province to become its “project implementation unit” for a new era of trade and development between China and Africa.