Wei Jianguo: China Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation is Going Forward in Both Directions, Blooming in Multiple Points

In the spring of 2026, China Africa economic and trade cooperation will accelerate again. In the first five months of this year, China's imports and exports to African countries reached 114 trillion yuan, breaking through the 1 trillion yuan mark for the first time in history, with a year-on-year increase of 18.2%. More noteworthy is that China has delivered an impressive performance in the first month of fully implementing zero tariff measures on 53 African countries with diplomatic relations. Data shows that in May, China imported 95.13 billion yuan from Africa, a year-on-year increase of 15%, achieving nine consecutive months of growth.

If the international trade pattern in the past was largely dominated by developed Western countries, then now the global cooperation within the South, represented by China and Africa, is reshaping this picture. By 2025, the trade volume between China and Africa will reach 348.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.7%, setting a historical peak. And this momentum further accelerated in the first quarter of this year. Africa, a young continent with a population of nearly 1.6 billion, is also undergoing consumer and industrial changes, demonstrating enormous market potential in resonance with China.

Behind the leap in scale is a qualitative leap in the structure of China Africa's import and export commodities. In the past, China mainly exported daily necessities and textiles to Africa. Nowadays, high-tech additional products and electronic consumer goods have become the main drivers of growth. At the same time, traditional household appliances, bedding, and other products are still selling well. Infrastructure and industrial demand have also driven growth in chemical and building materials industries. In Dakar, the capital of Senegal, Chinese brand electric vehicles shuttle through the streets and alleys; In remote villages in Kenya and Rwanda, Chinese made photovoltaic panels are bringing light and warmth to thousands of households. It can be said that this round of qualitative changes in the economic and trade structure between China and Africa is essentially a deep docking between Africa's development needs and China.

Currently, African countries are experiencing gradient development and staggered rise in their markets. Although their specific needs vary, they all have a strong desire to strengthen economic and trade ties with China. As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria's import volume to China will reach 24.91 billion US dollars in 2025, ranking first in Africa and covering multiple categories such as textile raw materials, lithium batteries, construction machinery, and daily consumer goods. Local supermarkets, wholesale markets, infrastructure construction sites, and even livelihood industries have all deeply connected with China's supply chain.

As a highly industrialized country in Africa, South Africa is an important market for China's high-end manufacturing products. In recent years, China's new energy vehicles, precision electromechanical equipment, photovoltaic products, and high-end building materials have entered South Africa, effectively promoting local industrial upgrading and energy transformation. While importing a large amount of Chinese industrial products, South Africa also exports a large amount of characteristic agricultural products and mineral resources to China, forming a virtuous trade cycle and serving as a model of two-way trade between China and Africa.

In addition, there are Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, Algeria and Morocco in North Africa, and so on. More and more African countries have found their own development rhythm in economic and trade interactions with China, forming a situation of multiple blooming and common prosperity among each other.

The author believes that in the foreseeable future, economic and trade cooperation between Africa and China will continue to improve and maintain high-speed growth. This judgment stems from the overlapping resonance of the four core advantages of Africa's population, policies, industries, and regional integration.

One is the population and urbanization dividend that Africa dominates the world. This is the continent with the fastest population growth and the greatest potential for urbanization in the world. By 2025, Africa's urbanization rate will be about 45%, roughly equivalent to China's development level in 2007. It is expected that urbanization in Africa will continue to be on the fast lane in the next 10 years, with large-scale urban construction, improved infrastructure, and improved living standards for residents, which will continue to drive massive demand for building materials, transportation equipment, household appliances, and other products.

The second is the heavy empowerment of China's tariff preferential policies. Since May 1st of this year, China has implemented a comprehensive zero tariff preferential policy for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations, covering thousands of product categories and becoming the world's first major economy to achieve full zero tariff opening to Africa. This policy not only significantly reduces trade costs, but also helps Africa enhance its export capacity and purchasing power. Even Western media cannot help but exclaim that this complementary two-way loop of advantages will unleash tremendous vitality in Africa.

Thirdly, the construction of the African Free Trade Zone is expected to unleash greater dividends of integration. By 2026, the African Continental Free Trade Area will be fully operational, with interconnected markets, tariff exemptions, and smooth trade among African countries. When Chinese goods enter a single African country market, they can more smoothly radiate across the entire African continent, reducing fragmented market barriers and significantly improving export efficiency, helping Chinese goods achieve broader market coverage.

The fourth is the unique structural complementary advantage of China Africa industries. China has the most complete industrial chain and supply chain in the world, which can cover all categories of demand from basic industries, energy transformation to consumer goods; Africa, on the other hand, has abundant advantages in key minerals, characteristic agricultural products, and the industrialization process is constantly accelerating. Both sides showcase their strengths in industrial products, energy development, infrastructure construction, and consumer goods, with a high degree of supply-demand matching. This rigid and complementary demand will bring more sustainable and resilient development synergy to the increment of China Africa trade.

For many years, China and Africa have risen together in the global trade landscape, and the comprehensive implementation of zero tariff policies has put both sides on a new starting point. This is a two-way economic and trade rush driven by the all-weather China Africa community of shared future and industrial complementarity in the new era, sounding the horn of the global economic center shifting southward. (The author is a former Vice Minister of Commerce and a member of the Senior Expert Advisory Committee of the China International Economic Exchange Center.)