| Summary: | Most of the studies on the Chinese presence in Africa tend inescapably to favour an approach through public enterprises. In this research we focus on a specific category of public enterprises, that of the companies under the direct supervision of the central government since they hold on average 80% of the stock of Chinese foreign direct investment. Their economic importance —both in China and abroad— coupled with their proximity to the central government substantiate that we distinguish these “central enterprises” from other public enterprises, that we specifically examine their role as an effective vector of China’s policy in Africa. We will therefore discuss the resurgence of the strategic concept of “central enterprise”, then will study the degree of autonomy of these central enterprises as expressed by their direct investment strategy abroad and more specifically in Africa. Finally, it appears that the Chinese government has an African strategy that it intends to implement through its “central enterprises”, which have much greater autonomy than we might suppose at first sight.
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