China has maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years
Recently, it was learned from the special press conference of the China Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Pilot Zone held by the Ministry of Commerce that China has maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Africa reached a historical peak of $282.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%.
According to Jiang Wei, Director of the West Asia and Africa Department of the Ministry of Commerce, economic and trade cooperation is the "ballast" and "propeller" of China Africa relations. Under the promotion of practical measures in previous sessions of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, China Africa economic and trade cooperation has always maintained strong vitality, and China Africa economic and trade cooperation has achieved fruitful results.
The scale of China Africa trade has repeatedly reached new highs, and the structure is continuously optimized. Non imported agricultural products have become a highlight of growth. In 2023, China's imports of nuts, vegetables, flowers, and fruits from non China increased by 130%, 32%, 14%, and 7% year-on-year, respectively. Mechanical and electrical products have become the "main force" in exports to Africa, and the "new three types" of products have achieved rapid growth in exports to Africa. Exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have increased by 291%, 109%, and 57% year-on-year, strongly supporting the transformation of green energy in Africa.
China Africa investment cooperation is steadily growing. China is the developing country with the largest investment scale in Africa. As of the end of 2022, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded 40 billion US dollars. In 2023, China's non direct investment still maintains a growth trend. The industrial agglomeration effect of parks such as China Egypt Teda Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, Hisense South Africa Industrial Park, and Nigeria Leki Free Trade Zone continues to emerge, attracting a group of Chinese enterprises to invest and develop in Africa. The projects cover multiple fields such as building materials, automobiles, household appliances, and agricultural product processing.
The cooperation in infrastructure construction between China and Africa has achieved significant results. Africa is China's second largest overseas contracting market, with Chinese companies signing over 700 billion US dollars in contracted projects and completing over 400 billion US dollars in revenue. They have implemented a number of iconic projects and "small yet beautiful" projects in areas such as transportation, energy, electricity, housing, and people's livelihoods. The completion of iconic projects such as the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Lower Kaifu Gorge Hydropower Station in Zambia, and the Fangjuni Bridge in Senegal has effectively driven the local economic and social development.
The momentum of cooperation in emerging fields between China and Africa has accumulated. The cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green and low-carbon, aerospace, and financial services is constantly expanding, injecting new vitality into China Africa economic and trade cooperation. China and Africa have joined hands to expand cooperation in the "Silk Road E-commerce" initiative, successfully hosting the African Good Things Online Shopping Festival, implementing the "One Hundred Stores, One Thousand Products, One Platform" initiative in Africa, and driving Chinese enterprises to actively support the development of African e-commerce, mobile payment, media and entertainment industries. China has signed civil aviation transportation agreements with 27 African countries and has successfully built and launched meteorological communication satellites for countries such as Algeria and Nigeria.
Not long ago, the overall plan for the construction of the China Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Pilot Zone was officially issued with the approval of the State Council, actively supporting Hunan Province in building the China Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Pilot Zone, becoming another major event in the development process of China Africa economic and trade cooperation. "In the past three years, the province's trade with Africa has maintained a rapid development momentum with an average annual growth of 23.1%. Advantageous industries such as equipment manufacturing, energy and mining, road and bridge construction, and agricultural development have entered Africa together, and technologies and products such as hybrid rice and construction machinery are well-known in Africa." Guo Ning, Deputy Director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Commerce, said that Hunan is urgently introducing implementation plans and supporting policies, focusing on investment and trade, capacity cooperation, digital economy, and other areas between China and Africa Building benchmark demonstrations in international logistics, cultural and tourism exchanges, and improving long-term mechanisms for economic and trade cooperation and exchanges with Africa.