When businessmen talk about trade between China and Zambia, it is usually shorthand for copper mining: billions of yuan are earmarked for the development of a Zambian copper sector that could one day rival Chile’s. But on the streets of Lusaka, a more paltry and far-reaching trade is evident in many market stalls. T-shirts, suitcases, microwave ovens, and other basic consumer goods are sold at rock-bottom prices.

The ambivalent effect of cheap Chinese imports has been observed in many countries, especially in the Walmart-centred US, where the advantage of low prices is offset by the loss of local manufacturing. In Africa, the pros and cons of this trend are exacerbated. Chinese imports might allow poor consumers to buy their first refrigerator but they have also hurt nascent industries in countries trying to step up from reliance on commodities.