DCU Business School, Dublin City University, Ireland.
School of Management and Economics, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China; Alma Mater Europaea ECM, Maribor, Slovenia.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 20;756:143603. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143603. Epub 2020 Nov 17.
China has strategically engaged with African countries through different routes. However, the growing presence of China in Africa has attracted a lot of praise and criticism. As a leader in smart technology, China may fill the technological gaps in Africa, which improve the environment. Conversely, China may be exploiting natural resources and rapidly deteriorating the environment. Therefore, in this paper, we examine the impact of different routes of the China-Africa relationship on the environment. Using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) model on data from 50 African countries, we find that different Chinese activities affect the environment differently. We find a positive relationship between construction revenue and carbon emission, suggesting that China's construction activities negatively affect the environment. Similarly, export increases carbon emission and harms the environment. However, we find a negative relationship between importation from China and carbon emissions, implying a positive environmental footprint by China in Africa. In the case of foreign direct, the results show that foreign direct investment improves the environment, and the relationship is stronger in non-resource countries. Given that most exports from Africa are natural resources, our results imply that African non-resources-rich countries are likely to benefit from China's large investment in cleaner energy in the long-run, especially after the construction of the infrastructures. Our findings highlight the potential environmental risks associated with the different routes of China partnership with African countries.
中国通过不同途径与非洲国家进行了战略性接触。然而，中国在非洲的日益增长的存在引起了很多赞扬和批评。作为智能技术的领导者，中国可能会填补非洲的技术空白，从而改善环境。相反，中国可能会开采自然资源并迅速破坏环境。因此，本文考察了中非关系的不同途径对环境的影响。我们使用来自 50 个非洲国家的数据，通过完全修正最小二乘法（FMOLS）模型，发现中国的不同活动对环境的影响不同。我们发现建筑收入与碳排放之间存在正相关关系，表明中国的建筑活动对环境产生负面影响。同样，出口增加碳排放并损害环境。然而，我们发现从中国进口与碳排放之间存在负相关关系，这意味着中国在非洲的活动对环境有积极影响。就外国直接投资而言，结果表明外国直接投资改善了环境，而且在非资源型国家这种关系更强。鉴于非洲的大多数出口是自然资源，因此我们的结果表明，在长期内，尤其是在基础设施建成后，非洲非资源丰富国家可能会从中国在清洁能源方面的大量投资中受益。我们的研究结果强调了与中国与非洲国家合作的不同途径相关的潜在环境风险。
