At the geopolitical level, China saw Africa in the immediate postcolonial period as a continent that offered it the geographic reach to develop its claim as a global champion of the Third World. China presented itself, especially in the pre-Deng Xiaoping period, as engaged in a struggle against hegemonies and sought to develop stronger political ties with newly independent African countries to increase its global reach and influence. China's Africa policy aimed to strengthen ties between Africa and Asia (Afro-Asian relations), as well as to regard China as the largest country in the world catering to a continent with the largest number of developing countries. The political objectives of China's action have been presented as South-South cooperation (also called "Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries"), and an exercise of countries seeking to build trust and develop mutual ties after sharing a colonial experience that had a boom in African countries. continent. China also sought to gain diplomatic support from African countries, given their numbers in the United Nations General Assembly, on issues of concern to the country as it developed global aspirations different from those of the United States and the former Soviet Union. Samuel Kim clearly described China's use of the United Nations for its global aspirations as follows: “At the global level, the United Nations General Assembly provides a vital forum for the projection of China's symbolic identification with the Third World. The United Nations' recognition of the People's Republic in late 1971 as “China's sole legitimate government” afforded Beijing access to the major global arena for the politics of collective legitimation and delegitimization” (Kim, 1994, p.135 ). - Deng's concern to build...... middle of paper ...... fueled by China's growing need for natural resources, and also by the need to deploy its massive foreign exchange reserves in foreign markets. There has been a shift, as Samuel Kim describes it in the context of China and the Third World, in the relationship from aid to exchange (Kim, 1994, p.152) or what Wenran Jiang calls a restructured relationship by “anti-colonial brothers” -in arms to economic and commercial partners, on the basis of market principles” (Jiang, 2006, p.6). It is clear that the vision of Africa, as a market and source of raw materials, was part of China's Grand Strategy. As Chris Alden points out, Deng's renewed commitment to transforming China's economy came with a warning about the best approach to foreign policy: “Observe calmly, protect our position, hide our capabilities, and bide our time. Be good at keeping a low profile, never claim leadership." (Alden, 2007, p.11)