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China's dramatic economic and trade impact on the developing world has received global attention, yet its role as an education donor, especially for Africans in China and within Africa itself, has received little attention. Here is hard evidence from Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa of the dramatic growth of China's soft power and of the implications of this for Africa, China and the world

The global education agenda, embedded in the Education for All (EFA) Goals, and the Millennium Development Goals, has emphasised the importance of reaching EFA rather than sustaining this achievement. As a corollary, the emphasis for external aid has also been on increasing aid to secure EFA rather than on the dangers of aid dependency in securing and sustaining EFA. The international architecture in support of education for sustainable development appears to have little interest in analysing these tensions between the pursuit of these rights-based EFA Goals, on the one hand, and the kind of economic growth and macro-economic environment that would be necessary to sustain their achievement.

Sustainability is a recent and very slippery concept, and in this Special Issue of NORRAG NEWS it is applied to a whole range of its possible meanings. But as often in NORRAG NEWS, we shall seek to imbue its present meanings with some sense of history, by reviewing the way that notions of sustainability, sustained commitments, and sustainable financing come increasingly to feature in the main policy papers on education.

The China-Africa Summit of 4–5 November 2006 was the largest ever high-level conference on Africa held outside of the continent. In its relations with African countries, China has traditionally avoided presenting itself as a donor, preferring to see itself as a large developing country working alongside other developing countries. It pursued a gradualist and integrated approach towards cooperation that emphasised the mutuality and two-sidedness of the cooperation. However, the various pledges, promises and targets included in 'The Beijing Action Plan—2007–2009' that was unveiled at the Beijing Summit gave it more of an aid flavour. While this need not make China into a Western or Japanese style donor, it will certainly have a series of consequences for China's relations with Africa.