Trade between China and Africa reached $94.4 billion in the first four months of 2023, an 8.9 percent increase over the same period in 2022, according to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs.
Between January 1 and April 30, 2023, Chinese exports to African countries increased by 26.9 percent over the same period a year earlier, reaching $58.9 billion.
Chinese imports from Africa, on the other hand, decreased by 11.8% year on year in the first four months of this year, reaching 35.5 billion dollars.
According to analysts, the decline in the value of Chinese imports from Africa since the beginning of 2023 is mainly due to the decline in commodity prices and reduced demand for minerals, in the context of a recovery in the economy of the weaker Asian giant expected.
“The slowdown in China’s economic growth due to prolonged periods of containment and geopolitical tensions that disrupted supply chains in 2022 significantly increased China’s mineral stockpiles and reduced demand for all raw materials,” he said. Carlos Lopes, former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, quoted by the South China Morning Post.
Most of China’s exports to Africa are finished products (textiles and clothing, machinery, electronics, etc.), while African exports to China are dominated by commodities such as crude oil, copper, cobalt, and ore. iron, resulting in a trade surplus for China.
However, the Chinese authorities have implemented policies to correct this trade imbalance. Last September, Beijing eliminated tariffs on 98% of products imported from nine African countries, including Guinea, Mozambique, Rwanda and Togo.
This tariff dismantling follows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC 8) held in Dakar in November 2021 that Beijing intends to increase its imports of African agricultural products. On that occasion, the Chinese leader had indicated the goal of bringing Chinese imports from the African continent to 100 billion dollars a year starting from 2022, and then reaching 300 billion dollars a year by 2035. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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