It is therefore regarded a vital industry for Chinese strategic interests on several fronts:. Such assessments are closely driven by the Chinese Communist Party CCP and relatedministerial and strategic planning institutions which have as their primary mandate, theemergence of competitive international companies aligned with the strategic politicalconsiderations of the motherland.
Importantly, Chinese telecom companies do not operatein isolation but operate in tandem with Chinese geo-strategic objectives. This makes theneed for effective countervailing strategies all the more important in dealing with Chinesetelecommunications challenge in Africa. Initial assessments suggest that China has chosen several hubs from which to roll-out itstelecommunication strategy on the continent. Improving technicalcapacity, linked to low costs of production, access to cheap state subsidized fundingsources and state political support provide such companies an important competitive edgenot available to independent telecom companies.
China is taking a much longer-term approach that better integratesbusiness and political objectives. Part of Chinese economic penetration strategies into new markets is to letChinese oil companies act as the vanguard of Chinese business and later politicalinterests. Chinese oil companies allow for low-level intrusion into new markets withoutattracting unnecessary attention. But they inevitably herald an influx of governmentofficials, mainly from the intelligence community, to help assess both business and politicalopportunities in such countries.
This has been especially evident in countries in Africawhich have not had diplomatic relations with Beijing, most notably Chad prior to and Sao Tome Principe. Compared to the established Western telecom gear-makers, Chinese companies offermore cost-effective equipment and solutions.
In addition, according to Zhou Tao,executive vice-president of ASB, the Chinese Government's increasing financial support toAfrican countries is also giving a boost to the establishment of telecom infrastructure. Moreover, the Chinesegovernment will support its telecom enterprises to run more telecom services in Africa. Some important strategic indicators underlining the business threat posed by Chinese telecoms companies are the following:.
