You describe very correctly the character of Chinese trade policy towards many African states: this is the typical neo-colonialism that will lead these states into a new trap of dependency that is difficult to resolve! But anyone who hasn't learned anything from history will probably have to live with considerable losses in prosperity again - apart from the corrupt African political elites who allow themselves to be bribed by the Chinese! It is high time for African people to wake up!

Good morning.

Is it a question or a statement?

If it is a question, I would suggest to look at the financial aspects rather than at trade.

You cannot force an independent country to trade with you on unequal conditions unless you have some way of imposing your conditions. For example, tying a loan for a project to employing only your companies in implementing the project under the companies ‘ own technical specifications (which may not be the best technically considering the local conditions and would require specific inputs to keep functioning in the future).

Cuba is an example, with textile factories built under Soviet specification: they collapsed with the fall of USSR because lack of spare parts and no alternative market due to technical specifications. Being heavily indebted with a state that does not belong to, or do not apply the Paris Club norms of debt renegotiations is another indicator of being in dire straits.

This said, this is pretty general: lots of heavily indebted countries during the 1990s had to implement structural reforms in order to receive debt relie from the IMF or the World Bank. Same for Greece in the 2000s.

So I’d suggest to follow the money.