Yale University and Peking University are inviting submissions for the 2017 Yale Africa-China Conference. Our objective is to facilitate exchange and innovation among African, Chinese and international thought leaders on Africa-China relations. The conference will take place in conjunction with the 2017 Beijing Forum, hosted by Peking University. The conference papers will be eligible for consideration in a planned journal special issue on Sino-African Development Cooperation, edited by the program chairs. Need-based travel support will be available, along with logistical and visa application support.

Accepted conference participants will be invited to attend the 2017 Beijing Forum, November 3rd, 2017 through November 5th, 2017 and a follow-on workshop on “New Frontiers in Africa-China Relations” at the Yale Beijing Center on November 6, 2017. Both parts of the conference will bring together experts and practitioners from government, business, civil society and academia.

• The first event will focus on Sino-African development cooperation, organized along four thematic panels. Accepted conference papers will be presented to an audience of scholars and practitioners from Africa, China and other parts of the world. Panel contributions will be discussed by distinguished respondents from government, international organizations and civil society. This provides a unique opportunity for scholars to communicate their findings to practitioners and to incorporate their feedback and insights.
• The second event will focus on new frontiers in Sino-African business relations, in particular Africa’s digital economy, human capital development in Africa, novel investment and finance models, and urban development in Africa. It will feature presentations by and conversations with top-level business executives and private sector development experts from Africa and China, followed by a networking reception.

This call for papers concerns the first part of the conference, focusing on Sino-African development cooperation. We are open to contributions that engage with one of the four panel topics listed below (see attached panel descriptions for details):

• The scope and institutional landscape of Chinese development cooperation in Africa
• China’s emerging nonprofit sector
• Free-trade zones and industrial development projects
• China’s relations with bilateral and multilateral donors in Africa

There are two submission deadlines:

• Extended abstracts (up to two pages double-spaced) are due on July 31, 2017
• Final papers (up to 10,000 words including footnotes and references) are due on August 31, 2017 or earlier.

Authors of successful extended abstracts will be invited by June 30th to submit a full paper. If a full paper is available, you may already submit the full paper instead of an extended abstract by June 15, 2017. MORE