In expanding its commercial presence abroad, China?s path is similar to the East India Company?s
The success of the English East India Company lay in its economic might. First and foremost, before it got into empire building, it was a trading company with outposts all over the word, many of which became colonies once the British crown took over their operations.
A parallel can be drawn between the East India Company of the past and the China of the present. Both entities saw Africa and South America as opportunities that just couldn?t be passed over. The Company specialised in the slave trade, shipping an estimated total of 35 mn slaves from Africa to plantations in the Caribbean. It was elbowed out of South America by Spain and Portugal. China?s approach to Africa and South America is a little different, more like the Company?s approach to India than its activities in Africa. Basically, China is importing raw materials from these regions and exporting manufactured goods to them, all the while buying up land and companies in these regions to facilitate this trade. In 2010, Chinese government-owned Sinopec sealed a $7-bn deal with Spain?s Repsol to buy 40% of its Brazilian business, giving China?s largest oil company access to Repsol Brasil?s estimated reserves of 1.2 bn barrels of oil and gas. Similarly, China National Petroleum Corporation is the largest shareholder in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, and in several other oil companies across Africa. Chinese companies are also buying land at a furious pace in Africa.
Most recently, China has entered an agreement with its delinquent ally, North Korea, to set up joint economic zones in the latter. Typical of the two countries involved, there?s not much information about the exact nature of these economic zones. But one thing is clear, China’s channeling the Company?s spirit of enterprise, looking everywhere to trade. Maybe it should change its name to Far East India Company.