Business

Trade and Business

China surpassed the US in 2009 to become the largest trading partner of Africa.  In 2000, China Africa Trade amounted to $10 billion and by 2014, it had grown to $220 billion

The value of China-Africa Trade in 2018 was $185bn up from $155 bn in 2017.

In 2018, the largest exporter to China from Africa was Angola, followed by Suth Africa and The Republic of Congo.

From January-June 2019, China’s total import and export volume with Africa was US$101.86 billion, up 2.9% year on year, exceeding the overall growth rate of foreign trade in the same period by 4.9 percentage points – according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China.

In 2019, China’s imports from Africa were 98 billion USD. China’s exports to Africa were 113 billion, indicating that China is still enjoying the surplus.

China exports more to Africa than Africa exports to China. The reason is that China is still the world factory, and the leading manufacturer in the world; while Africa’s manufacturing industry generally speaking is still under developed, although there is an improvement in the last decade. China invested about 2.8 billion USD in Africa.

The Chinese government and Chinese companies – state owned and private are also keen to look for new places where they can establish new production bases.

If you go to Ethiopia or Kenya, even Rwanda you can find Chinese investments like production factories.

33 African countries enjoy zero custom duties on 97 percent of the goods when they export to China.

Since 2018, China launched the world import expo and invites African countries to establish their country pavilions and exhibit their goods. This has helped African producers to negotiate and sell their goods to the Chinese consumers and establish partnerships with the Chinese importers.