The most successful development initiatives are those that link innovation with unlikely partnerships where local stakeholders are an integral part of development intervention.

To that end, I seek to re-envision the narrative of south-south development initiatives through China's engagement in the Caribbean and Africa. Understanding the dynamics of China's presence is crucial as it has the capacity to alter development strategy, multilateral coordination and international relations.

China's investment interests have altered the climate of economic development in the Caribbean and Africa. It is our hope that this engagement fosters fundamental changes by increasing civil society capacity, strengthening strategic transnational collaboration and encouraging adherence to tenets of corporate social responsibility as it pertains to the protection of fragile populations and environments. Whether or not these anticipated outcomes are a direct result of China's interventions in the region, I am keenly interested in the uses to which Caribbean and African stakeholders will put the leverage now at their disposal.

Much of the literature on Sino-Caribbean/African relations has focused on the threat of further exploitation, extraction, and colonization. Criticism from across the ideological development divide, calls for 'Trade over Aid'. As a result, I seek a nuanced conceptual framework from which to make an original contribution to contestations over South-South development initiatives.