This volume is the result of a conference titled “China’s Soft Power in Africa: Emerging Media and Cultural Relations between China and Africa,” held in the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo Campus in China (UNNC) in September, 2014. China has dramatically increased its economic engagement with Africa. At the same time, it has been promoting its soft power on the continent. As important platforms for the promotion of soft power, large investments are being poured into the official media organizations to improve their reporting and broadcasting, including greatly increased and increasing media presence, exchange programs, and training for African journalists, and provision of infrastructural and technical support to the media sector in Africa. However, the involvement of China in Africa has been controversial. It is seen by some to have negative consequences for the deepening of democracy on the continent should China’s attitude toward press freedom be adopted by their new African partners. This conference examined and analyzed the competing views in order to promote a better understanding of China’s involvement in Africa using its media engagement as an entry point.
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