China's helping hand welcome in Africa

"Banshou, please."

This is part of simple conversation when a Chinese technician at a glass plant in Addis Ababa requests his Ethiopian co-worker pass him a spanner.

At first, the Ethiopian worker may not know what banshou means but he gets it after the Chinese technician, who doesn't know the local language, has repeated it several times and mimed using one. And in this way, the Ethiopian worker has learned his work duties on the modern glass production line, the first in Ethiopia, which is an investment by China's CGC Overseas Construction Group.

One Ethiopian's interesting way of learning by doing reflects the way in which many in this East African country are building a modern economy, while seeking their personal development, in the various projects undertaken by China.

To learn about how the Chinese company adjusted itself to the local culture, I stayed several nights in the company's dormitory at its Ethiopian headquarters.

In the company's workshops and dining hall, I saw the locals, from drivers, cooks, technicians to managers, consultants, and road project subcontractors, work side by side with their Chinese counterparts and benefit from the technologies and know-how.

They do the same work, and work under the same protection. No trace of lordly arrogance or servility is seen from either side.

Nor are the Chinese projects all aimed at "exploiting the resources of Africa", as some Western media would like to make their leaders believe.

The infrastructure and factories that the Chinese help build will stay where they are, and will never be shipped away like resources. So will the skills.

Some say there are about 30,000 Chinese workers in Ethiopia now. From data provided by the Chinese companies, I calculate, on average, one Chinese worker creates at least 10 local jobs - but not jobs of the menial types.

Together Chinese and Ethiopian workers have built not only the country's first glass production lines, they have also improved the infrastructure of this land-locked Africa country by constructing highways, and they are busy completing its first modern railway.

So far, no Western country has offered such progressive development strategies for Ethiopia.

I saw no Europeans, Americans or Japanese working at the road or railway construction sites.

Instead, what I heard were complaints that the West's aid money to the African country has been primarily spent on expensive imports of out-dated equipment produced by Western companies or consultancy fees of up to $1,000 per day.

Comparing the approaches between China and the West in Africa is not meant to prevent the latter from participating in poverty reduction on the continent. But Western media and politicians may be advised to play a more useful role in helping Africa's development rather than simply ridiculing the Chinese who are working with the local people.

Of course, China and Chinese workers have room to improve. But the story is China's technology and knowledge, combined with local talent and hard work, are helping Ethiopia and the rest of Africa grow. This is telling proof that the world's second-largest economy has the ambition to share its prosperity and experiences of development with its African friends.

The author is China Daily's chief correspondent in Brussels. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn