Party-to-Party Diplomacy: The Implications for Governance in Zimbabwe of China’s Changing Political Engagement in Africa

Despite the ever-growing literature on China-Africa relations, little is known about how China, as a party-state, establishes deep cooperative relations with African political parties and how these relations affect governance in Africa. This thesis contributes to the literature from a different perspective of party diplomacy and its impact on governance in Africa. It argues that through an aggressive and evolving party-to-party diplomacy in the contemporary period, China is building the capacity of African ruling parties to hold on to state power and provide them with the means to strengthen authoritarian systems, adversely affecting governance in Africa.