By Paulette Nonfodji

The early seventies saw the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Benin after the breakdown of these relations in 1966. China’s role in Benin has ever since been growing through mutual agreements on trade and technological cooperation. In recent years, the rush on farmland in Africa by foreign and national investors has altered China’s role. China became worldwide the leading country in the international rush on farmland. In Benin, as in other countries, China has acquired considerable amounts of farmland for the production of fuel crops. This paper aims at analysing the Chinese market socialism strategies in face of the neo-liberal actors’ strategies deployed in Benin in the context of the rush on farmland. How do the Chinese market socialism’s strategies differ from the neo-liberal actors’ ones? What are the socioeconomic consequences of these strategies for the agrarian community in Benin? And finally to what extent can the Chinese’ approach in this case of the rush on farmland constitute a win-win situation in Benin? *