China remains Africa’s top trade partner for 16th year, cooperation in various areas continues to expand: official

An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 16, 2024 shows the cargo ship "GREEN NAGOYA" being loaded at Qingdao Port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The vessel is expected to arrive at the Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania in about 20 days. A new direct shipping route between China's Qingdao and southeast Africa was officially opened on Monday. Running on a weekly basis, this route adds a safe and fast maritime shipping alternative between China and Africa. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

China remained Africa's largest trading partner for the 16th consecutive year in 2024, with bilateral trade hitting a record $295.6 billion, up 4.8 percent year-on-year, while cooperation in areas such as investment, industry and technology continues to deepen, according to an official from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday.

Tang Wenhong, assistant minister of commerce, revealed the data during a State Council Information Office press conference on the upcoming 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which will be held from June 12-15 in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province. Co-hosted by the MOFCOM and the Hunan provincial government, the event is one of the most significant platforms for China-Africa economic engagement this year.

Tang said that China's vast market offers major opportunities for African goods. For instance, 90 percent of South Africa's pecans are exported to China, making it the world's third-largest producer of pecans. Overall, China's imports from Africa rose 6.9 percent to $116.8 billion, while exports hit $178.8 billion, up 3.5 percent, according to the official.

China has long been Africa's largest trading partner and a leading investor, reflecting the strong complementarity in China-Africa trade, Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Chinese investment in Africa has also gained strong momentum in recent years, with companies expanding industrial parks and boosting supply chain cooperation. In Egypt, the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone has formed clusters in sectors such as textiles, glass, building materials and home appliances, serving as a model for African industrialization. In Tanzania, more than 430 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have joined a commercial and logistics park that is expected to create more than 20,000 local jobs. In Zambia, the China-Zambia cooperation zone is building a complete copper industry chain to raise the value-added of mineral exports, according to Tang.

Song said that China has consistently supported Africa's development with sincerity, viewing trade as a vital means to help ease development bottlenecks and build the continent's capacity for self-sustained growth. She noted that since the launch of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China has steadily advanced trade facilitation measures, including the 2024 announcement of zero-tariff treatment for exports from Africa's least-developed countries that have diplomatic ties with China, an initiative that has sharply boosted the flow of agricultural and specialty products into the Chinese market.

"Amid rising US protectionism, China and Africa should deepen cooperation under the Global South framework, using platforms like FOCAC and BRICS to expand ties in digital and high-tech sectors and support Africa's sustainable development," Song said, adding that stronger trade and investment cooperation is needed to safeguard economic security and unlock market potential on both sides.

Tang also said on Wednesday that cooperation in emerging sectors is also deepening. Chinese companies have built major data centers in Africa, offering cloud services and applying 5G technology in mining and urban management. In green development, the capacity of jointly built solar power stations has exceeded 1.5 gigawatts, enough to power more than 1 million African households. In finance, Egypt and the African Export-Import Bank successfully issued yuan-denominated panda bonds in China in 2023 and 2025.