ISSN: 2222-6990
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This study investigated China-Africa Economic and Trade ties taking Tanzania as the
case study and the prime objective was to identify the main drivers for the bilateral
trade and the benefits of the ties. The study draws theoretical framework from
Realism, Dependency and Marxist theories of Imperialism. The dependency theory
explains underdevelopment while the Marxist explains dominant state expansion. This
study mainly employs descriptive research approach to asses China-Tanzania economic
and trade ties. Data is drawn from industrial annual reports, previous research,
journals, magazines, documentation and websites. Other sources are Tanzania
Investment Centre (TIC) and Business Registration and Licensing Agency of Tanzania
(BRELA). The scope of the study is limited to 1990-2010. The findings of the study show
that engagement of China in Tanzania poses both opportunities and challenges. The
nature of China`s investment in Tanzania has been capital intensive and been mostly
directed to strategic industries, particularly manufacturing sector the leading sector in
which Chinese investors have injected more projects, followed by construction,
agricultural, tourism and services sectors among others. Similarly, the study finds that
the imported commodities and goods from China have been affordable to most of lowincome earners hence increases consumers choice and contribution to Tanzania
Economic growth. However, the negative effects cannot be neglected; the
investments have led into the influx of low quality products that do not meet market
standards. Therefore, this study recommends that the government should ensure that
the partnership with China is for a win-win situation.
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