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ABSTRACTChina's internationalization has been heralded by some as a new era of South–South cooperation. Yet such framings of development are pitched at an abstract space of the 'global South' which conceals more than it reveals. With some theory moving towards ontologies of 'global development', we need to capture both the connectedness and the local specificity of increasingly diffuse processes. This article sets out a more fine‐grained understanding of how political territories and processes are imagined and produced by and through China's internationalization, focusing on infrastructure as a 'technology' of territorialization. Much of the focus on China's internationalization has been on state‐to‐state relations, but this obscures the 'omni‐channel politics' that China practises. Using a critical literature review and illustrative case study, this article develops the idea of omni‐channel politics to posit a view of 'twisted' territories in which political processes and development outcomes are more complex and contingent.

ABSTRACTThis article provides a political economy framework for analysing China's engagements with Africa. It situates the rise of China in the context of the changing balance of power in the world system and particularly China's re‐entry into spheres of influence in Africa that have been the purview of the former European colonial powers for two centuries or more. It begins by arguing that current approaches to China, Africa and international relations are fragmented in particular ways which prevent the development of a more critical political economy. It then examines a pervasive theme in China–Africa relations, which assumes that the Chinese work through enclaved investments to secure the resources of low‐income economies, though in this sense the Chinese are no different from other investors. Where they do differ is in their bundling of aid, trade and FDI and their use of imported labour, which has been termed 'surgical colonialism'. The article does not dispute the existence of Chinese enclaves but argues that we need more empirical evidence on the levels of labour importation in relation to local labour market conditions. This requires a more nuanced understanding of state–capital dynamics in those countries where the Chinese operate although the model appears to be one of elite brokerage. However, the enclaved investments and inter‐elite bargaining are only part of the story and the closing sections of the article analyse the role of independent Chinese businesses in Africa's social and political development, which moves us beyond the enclave.

The author examines recent changes in the Ghanaian aid and investment landscape as China has stepped up its relations with this donor 'darling'. Recent oil discoveries further transform the financing scenarios and more established donors are concerned about the riskiness of this. These tensions reveal wider differences in approaches to development and the desires of many African governments which could herald big changes in the ethos and practice of development. These are interesting times for Ghana. The country is a long-standing donor 'success', transitioned smoothly to democracy, and the economy has been performing reasonably well. Recently the Chinese have stepped up diplomatic relations, largely through aid, as they have with many African countries that serve their geopolitical and economic ends. But with the discovery of oil things have changed quickly. The Chinese and other Asian investors are seeking deals backed by oil revenues which could see Ghana moving away from being aid dependent. Moreover the 'established' donors of the OECD are worried about Ghana's turn to these seemingly riskier and un-transparent forms of finance which they see as destabilising hard won efforts at donor harmonisation. Yet the Ghana story suggest deeper tensions between approaches to development –one centred on 'softer' institutional agendas and the other on 'harder' economic ones of infrastructure and growth–. The Chinese approach favours the latter, which is also something African governments are keen to pursue, so the changing aid and investment landscape may presage major changes in the ethos and direction of African development.