Franco-Malian And Sino-Malian Economic Cooperation:A Comparison

Since 1960,France and China have been two important international partners of Mali.In terms of the relationship between France and Mali,France is the former colonial power of Mali.Since Mali’s independence,it has carried out bilateral cooperation with France,which is called the North-South cooperation and this cooperation has been very important to the economic development of the two countries.The economic cooperation between them is mainly due to the fact France investment in Mali’s economy.Thus France economically supports Mali and provides official developmental assistance to Mali.In addition,since Mali’s independence,there has been a trade in goods between France and Mali.However,the economic relationship between the two states face some challenges which is mainly due to the asymmetry of economic cooperation between the two countries,the tightening of French immigration policies,corruption and the search for geopolitical influence in Mali through economic influence.On the other hand the economic cooperation between China and Mali was shortly formed after Mali’s independence.China-Mali cooperation was originally carried out under the framework of South-South cooperation,following the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs and mutual respect among countries at the Bandung Conference.In 1962,China and Mali signed an economic cooperation agreement.Since then,through mutual investment,official development assistance and trade exchanges,economic cooperation between the two states has become increasingly close.Different from the economic cooperation between Mali and France,the key area of Sino-Malian economic cooperation is to build infrastructure,and China provides interest-free loans and subsidies to Mali.There are also problems with the economic cooperation between China and Mali,including the fact that Chinese companies are not paying attention to protecting the local environment,also they are unwilling to hire local workers and finally the fear of terrorist attacks in Mali.Despite these difficulties,Mali establishment of economic cooperation relations with China and France,have long maintained and promoted the economic development of the country.However,the economic cooperation between Mali and France the one between China and Mali,have some achievements as well as some problems.This paper compares the similarities and differences between the two cooperation and comprehensively analyses its advantages and disadvantages.While both China and France seeks to expand their economic interests in Mali,both countries also wish to maintain close cooperation and exchanges in investment to facilitate development and trade among themselves.Also the paper reveals that the approach used by China and France in their dealing with Mali is different.The difference is that,while France is committed to maintaining and expanding geopolitical influence through economic influence,China on the other hand pursues the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.Thus the cooperation between China and Mali focuses on infrastructure construction and more on intergovernmental cooperation and seeking cooperation for a win-win situation.Finally,from the macroscopic perspective of the nature of South-South and North-South cooperation and the new development,this paper suggest that in order to facilitate and consolidate the rapid development of China and Mali’s cooperation,the international cooperation mode which aims at a win-win cooperation and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs is more vital and should be encouraged.Interference in internal affairs of Mali has limited the development of North-South cooperation which should be avoided.The paper also suggests that China should respect local society and protect local interests,and truly make constant effort to achieve win-win cooperation.The paper notes that Mali has benefited from its cooperation with France and China and in the future,it needs to take measures to avoid factors that negatively affect the cooperation between the two countries and avoid the fierce competition between the South-South and North-South cooperation,and promote the positive effects between the two types of cooperation in Mali.