Ongoing Shifts in China-Angola Relations:Urban Expansion, Media Coverage, and New Online Markets

For two decades, oil has been the cornerstone of Sino-Angolan relations. Now, as Angola transitions into a post-oil, post-lending era, the country is shifting its focus toward economic diversification, particularly in sectors like mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. How will these evolving ties between Angola and China shape the future beyond the oil industry? This key question drives the research conducted by experts from both nations as part of the China-Angola Relations project hosted by the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies and supported by the Ford Foundation. 

While Angola is China’s second-largest African investment destination and key oil supplier, this innovative project seeks to explore new dimensions of their partnership, analyzing Chinese megaprojects – spanning infrastructure, port-building, mining, and new city developments – in terms of how Angolan communities, movements, and policy actors debate their impact.

As part of this initiative, the live international webinar “Urban and Technological Development: China-Angola Relations Over the Past Two Decades,” held on May 16, 2024, brought together research partners from Angola and China: Xiaoying Hou, a professor at Xi’an University of International Studies in China, along with Garcia Neves Quitari and Ernesto Isidro, both professors at Agostinho Neto University in Angola. Key topics included media coverage of China-Angola relations by both Chinese and Angolan newspapers, the evolution of Chinese investments in Angola’s real estate sector, and the impact of the online market for Chinese products on creating economic opportunities for young Angolans.

Below, you will find short clips from the presentations and the full webinar video, along with an overview of the key discussions from this first episode of the “Orfalea Center China-Angola Relations Webinar Series.” If you are also interested in the second episode – which examines changing business and investment models in Angola-China relations across the education, agriculture, technology, and construction sectors – click here.

Xiaoying Hou	Garcia Neves Quitari	Ernesto Isidro

Comparative Media Coverage of China-Angola Relations

In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, China-Angola relations have evolved significantly, characterized by Angola’s trade surplus and increasing Chinese investments. While economic engagements have been prominent, Chinese Public Diplomacy (PD) activities have also played a crucial role in shaping cultural perceptions and political support in Angola. China’s PD efforts include media outreach, immigrant interactions, student exchanges, and corporate public relations initiatives. These activities are aimed at enhancing China’s soft power and garnering political support from both the Angolan government and its public. Furthermore, since 2017, China's growing influence in Africa has been perceived as a threat by the US and, subsequently, the EU, which have both intensified their own soft power competition. This geopolitical tension has led to a race among international actors to sway Angolan elites' views and behaviors towards China through Mediated Public Diplomacy (MPD).

In her presentation, “Mediated Public Diplomacy in China-Angola Relations: The Case of Chinese Business Communities,” Xiaoying Hou built on this context and showed how Angolan and Chinese decision-makers utilize media coverage to influence Angolan perceptions of China. Applying Entman’s Cascading Network Activation model, her research investigates how news coverage from Chinese and Angolan media reflects and shapes public opinion on China’s Public Diplomacy (PD) activities. To this end, Hou conducted a content analysis using the MAXQDA program to compare news samples collected from Chinese newspaper People’s Daily and Angola Press News Agency (Angop), examining both similarities and differences in how they cover Chinese business communities across different agenda levels. 

Xiaoying Hou highlighted the strong inter-agenda setting effects between the two media outlets. Both People’s Daily and Angop give similar importance to shared attributes like infrastructure and economic diversification. However, Angop places more emphasis on political relations and investment, while People’s Daily focuses on livelihood and technology support. Hou’s research also revealed that Angop credits positive developments to Chinese government policies, while People’s Daily attributes them to Chinese companies. She concluded that China’s Mediated Public Diplomacy (MPD) has had moderate success in shaping political relations but faces challenges in influencing Angolan elites and media narratives regarding the Chinese business community. Hou suggested that further research is needed to examine the role of external actors in this media agenda-setting process. 

The Dynamics of Chinese Real Estate Investment in Luanda

Garcia Neves Quitari, in his presentation entitled “The Impact of Chinese Investments in Angola: The Case of the Real Estate Sector in Luanda,” analyzed the development of Chinese investment strategies in Angola over the past two decades, with a particular focus on the policy shifts introduced by the Angolan government in 2017. Prior to this shift, Chinese investments were predominantly facilitated through direct agreements with the government of Angola, targeting public projects and national reconstruction, notably within the housing and urban infrastructure sectors as part of the Luanda Urban Growth Plan.

The introduction of a new investment strategy, which prioritizes private and foreign investments over public financing, has precipitated notable shifts in the investment landscape. In his research, Quitari identifies two significant developments arising from this strategy: the relocation of large Chinese construction firms to other sectors such as mining and agriculture, and the concurrent rise of medium and small Chinese enterprises engaged in construction and materials trading. 

Quitari’s research delves into these emerging dynamics, assessing the advantages and limitations of the “China-Angola Investment Model.” His work on Chinese involvement in Luanda’s urbanization process, particularly within the real estate sector, serves as an empirical foundation to explore a complex and evolving phenomenon. Through detailed case studies of residential complexes like “Orlando” and “Mundo da China,” as well as commercial centers such as “Shopping Kilamba” and “Cidade da China,” he illustrates how recent economic policies have transformed social dynamics and commercial interactions within these developments, revealing a process characterized by fluidity and resistance to standardization. 

Analyzing Young Students’ Consumption Trends on Shein in Luanda

Today, it’s rare to come across someone who hasn’t seen a Shein ad on their social media feed. Given the rising popularity of this Chinese fashion platform among young Angolans, Ernesto Isidro’s presentation, titled “Characterization of Consumption Patterns of Young Students in Luanda on the Chinese Platform Shein,” explored its rapid expansion and influence in Angola over recent years. Drawing on interviews with ten students from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Agostinho Neto University in Luanda and analyzing their social media engagement, Isidro’s research illuminates the consumption patterns associated with Shein.

Isidro’s presentation addressed the contextual factors influencing this trend, such as increased internet accessibility, the advent of electronic payment methods, and the social isolation induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a nation where 66% of the population is under 35 and over 60% of the unemployed are aged 15 to 24, Shein has surfaced as a viable alternative for young individuals grappling with challenges in the formal job market. This online marketplace for Chinese goods presents a significant opportunity for students and young professionals to navigate economic hardships and explore alternative income streams in the non-traditional sphere of online sales. 

In his presentation, Isidro also revealed that, although many items are bought for personal use, a significant portion is acquired for resale. Users attribute the platform’s appeal to its extensive range of quality products, the convenience of online shopping via the Shein app, and the attractive profit margins associated with reselling. Furthermore, Isidro’s research highlights a notable shift in how young Angolan women perceive the quality of Chinese-made products purchased online, marking a departure from the skepticism of previous generations. With increased access to information and a wider range of products available, these women now express high confidence in the quality and variety offered by Chinese brands. This shift reflects a broader evolution in market dynamics and consumer perceptions, where product origin is less significant. 

➔ To view the complete webinar, click the video below: