Sino-African cooperation embraces not only trade and foreign direct investment, but a ‘social dimension’ also, including expenditure on health and education. However, the ‘Chinese approach of social welfare appears to be mediated under a different set of normative premises, institutional actors, and policy mechanisms from traditional development partners. Based on in-depth elite interviews, and a systematic content analysis of key policy documents, this research examines both the nature and implications of the emerging Chinese “social policy model” in Africa. Located within global social policy discourses and focusing on the role of policy actors, the analysis investigates how welfare and social policy is conceptualized in China-Africa development aid cooperation. The study explores the implications for our understanding of traditional debates concerning the drivers of social policy development, as well as the extent to which these ideas represent a new policy paradigm or merely repeat earlier debates.