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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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• China 2005
  
• China 2005, 2
  
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• China 2007, 2
  
• China 2007, 3
  

China's economy is booming, this isn't news at all; what's interesting, however, is that many are still surprised to see China struggling to find an ever-increasing amount of resources just to keep its economy going, not to mention that it's still moving on an accelerated track. Resource-rich countries have never done so well now since the early 1970s. It's partly due to increased demand coming from China, by also from India, and from other newly industrializing nations in Asia. The last large region of resource-exporting countries is Africa. So, the economic and political rapprochement between Beijing and Africa has sound economic foundation.

Chinese companies are investing big from Egypt to South Africa, with Sudan as a key country in between, largely due to its significant oil reserves, but also to its relative proximity to existing trade roads. Investments mainly go into oil fields, mining, and into infrastructures that facilitate the exports (and imports). Non-negligible amount of money, however, goes also into training African students at Chinese universities, mainly into engineering faculties. To put the process into comparative perspective, the Chinese economic contribution right now covers approximately 5 percent of the minimum African needs of infrastructure investments; this amount is due to reach 20 percent within years.

Many African countries are turning toward China for inspiration for their economic development and for political survival. After centuries of European colonialism and decades of Western neglect and unequal trade, China offers a good model for development, where economic boom can still be managed without renouncing the dictatorial political regimes. Since early 1990s the West has tried to impose certain political and human rights' norms as precondition for furthering the economic cooperation with Africa. Having China as main economic partner may completely change and make irrelevant this framework of non-economic conditions.

The West needs to understand, that looking at Africa as a cheap and politically obedient economic backyard may be over very soon. Many European countries, most of all France, will have to accept the fact that they must compete for the same pool of resources with emerging Asian giants. Worst still, they must accept, that for the first time in modern history, both the two sides in one trade transaction don't need to belong to the West largely defined. It's just a matter of time before Africa from resource-exporting continents turns toward industrial development, which is what the modern economic history teaches us. It may take a century before Africa joins the club of rich regions in the world, but the recent Chinese encroachment in the continent may represent the first giant step in this direction.

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