Another book on China–Africa ties? Yes, and this volume is different and a cut above many previous efforts. It is a detailed and thoroughly researched analysis of the relationship between China and Mozambique, edited by one of the leading scholars on Sino-African relations and his colleague from the Maputo-based Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Economicos. The book brings together African, Chinese and Western perspectives on the topic and the result is a first-rate and comprehensive treatment of the subject.

Mozambique is an interesting story vis-à-vis the China–Africa story. The Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO) aimed at balancing any overt foreign influence on their movement and was careful not to move too close to either Moscow or Beijing. Keen to avoid becoming involved in the Sino-Soviet ideological split, the organization received aid from both Communist powers. FRELIMO was able to largely avoid the squabbles and rivalries that other liberation organizations in Southern Africa suffered through siding in the Sino-Soviet argument. An example of this was the insistence that any arms transfers to FRELIMO must be registered and supplied via the African Liberation Committee of the Organisation of African Unity. This averted antagonizing both Moscow and Western (primarily Scandinavian) backers of FRELIMO, who would have balked at the organization receiving aid from the radical Chinese. Although preferring an organization untainted with ties with the revisionists in Moscow, Beijing had no choice but to continue supporting FRELIMO. This was because FRELIMO was the only effective fighting liberation organization in Mozambique, though Beijing also briefly supported a rival organization the Comite Revolucionário de Moçambique (COREMO).

Despite strong pressure from both Moscow and Beijing, the Mozambicans consistently managed to maintain a policy of neutrality towards either Communist power. This policy continued as a bedrock of the FRELIMO government's foreign policy after independence. Interestingly, both China's Communist Party and FRELIMO (an avowedly Marxist-Leninist political party) went through a gradual process of easing up on their socialist convictions and over time embraced the logic of the market. This is the “from comrades to capitalists” subtitle of the book. In both countries, it became “glorious” to get rich as well-connected insiders took advantage of the liberalization processes to accumulate – many on a spectacular scale. Just as Xi Jinping's family has a reported wealth of US$370 million, the current president of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza (or “Mr. Gue-Business” as he is popularly known), is one of the wealthiest individuals in Mozambique, with a vast business empire developed in the wake of the mass privatization of state companies.

In this context, China–Mozambique relations are growing exponentially, alongside broader Sino-African trade which saw commerce increase from around US$10 billion in 2000 to more than US$200 billion in 2013. One of the aims of the book is to examine how the relationship between China and Mozambique has evolved, with a key theme being that Mozambique must exercise its agency to get the best out of the relationship with China. Building on the (relatively) warm ties developed during the liberation struggle and the rather similar paths away from socialism towards a full-on embracing of capitalism, the book details how Mozambique is a country that is quite open to Chinese connections and generally welcomes Chinese actors. However, this is also where potential problems lie in the sense that whilst Mozambican agency will perhaps act as the deciding factor, this agency is largely (although not exclusively) operationalized by local elites, who benefit disproportionately from the relationship.

The book starts with a competent Introduction before moving onto a detailed historical overview of China's relations with Mozambique by Alden, Chichava and Paula Cristina Roque. Chichava follows with a decent study of Chinese investment patterns in the country whilst Ana Cristina Alves delivers a really interesting chapter on Macau's links with Mozambique in the banking sector. Guanxi seems paramount here. Mikkel Bunkenborg then uses an ethnographic approach to debunk the idea of some Chinese “master plan.” The following chapter is fantastic: Morten Nielsen looks at a Chinese-built road project, revealing all sorts of weird and wonderful goings-on and misunderstandings. The photo on p. 71 of the practice area where Chinese painters attempted to paint straight lines on roads is hilarious and worth framing. There are then three chapters detailing Chinese involvement in Mozambique's agricultural sectors: Sigrid-Marianella Stensrud Ekman's broad appraisal, Chichava, Jimena Durán and Lu Jiang's chapter on the Chinese Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre, and Chichava's examination of Chinese rice farming near a city in the south of Mozambique. There are then two chapters providing a Mozambican perspective on the Chinese presence and then a study on the growing Chinese community in Maputo. Finally, the editors come together again to provide a thoughtful conclusion.

This book is not only of great value to people interested in Mozambique, or in Sino-Chinese ties more generally. It is also of great use for anyone interested in how China is “going global” and the multiple actors and processes that this ongoing development encompasses. It is an excellent book.