China into Africa : trade, aid, and influence Robert I. Rotberg, editor. Africa attracted China as early as the T'ang Dynasty (A. D. 618-907); ninth century reports of the meat-eating, ivory-exporting people of Po-pa-li in the "southwestern sea: may refer to the inhabitants of what is now modern Kenya or Tanzania. […] During the Sung dynasty (A.D. 1127-1279), Chinese shipping was common throughout the western reaches of the Indian Ocean… But it is from the fifteenth century that we can date China's first certain direct involvement with Africa. Between 1417 and 1431, the Ming emperors dispatched three large expeditions to eastern Africa to collect walking proof of the celestial approval of their virtuous and harmonious reigns. Only Africa could supply a confirmation of these blessings. […] China and Africa have enriched each other intellectually, culturally, and commercially ever since. But direct contact and interactive influence have been episodic. During the middle years of the twentieth century, Maoist China funded and educated sub-Saharan African anticolonial liberation movements and leaders some of which and some of whom later emerged victorious in their national struggles for freedom .[…] Africa and china are now immersed in their third era of heavy engagement. This one is much more transformative than the earlier iterations… China's current thrust into sub-Saharan African promises to do more for economic growth and poverty alleviation there than anything attempted by western colonialism or the massive initiatives of the international lending agencies and other donors. […] China is opportunistic. The contributions to this book assess the positive and negative results of its latest move into Africa, and look at each of the salient issues in turn. […]