Christina Seyfried, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Yale, traces Chinese engagement in Africa from the early Cold War to the present. She lays out the historical stages of the relationship, from Cold War era diplomacy and infrastructure aid through the post-2000 surge in trade and investment, and addresses key debates over whether China's role is exploitative, developmental, or something else. The lecture closes by weighing African states' bargaining power against China amid shifting global economic and political conditions over the past two decades. Delivered as part of Yale's DeVane Lecture series course 'Power and Politics in Today's World' taught by Professor Ian Shapiro in fall 2019, the talk runs about 76 minutes and was open to Yale students and the general public.