Sino-African economic, trade cooperation reaches new heights

BEIJING — China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has continued to scale new heights since the 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, delivering tangible benefits to the people of both China and Africa, said Assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong.

Tang made the remarks at a recent news conference on Aug 20 detailing the progress and achievements that have been made under the nine cooperation programs China announced during the FOCAC's 8th Ministerial Conference held three years ago in Senegal.

These nine programs span categories such as medicine and health, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, digital innovation, green development and capacity building, among others.

According to Tang, driven by programs aimed at trade and investment promotion as well as poverty reduction and agricultural development, China-Africa investment and trade cooperation have developed steadily.

Trade and investment

"China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years," Tang said, noting that in 2023, China-Africa trade reached $282.1 billion, up nearly 11 percent compared to 2021, which demonstrates the strong resilience of China-Africa trade.

In terms of investment, China-Africa investment cooperation has grown steadily. As of the end of 2023, China's direct investment stock in Africa exceeded $40 billion, making it one of Africa's major sources of foreign investment, Tang said.

"In the past three years, Chinese companies have created more than 1.1 million local jobs," he said.

The economic and trade cooperation zones Chinese firms have invested in and built in Africa — in sectors such as agriculture, processing and manufacturing, trade logistics and other industries — have attracted more than 1,000 companies and helped increase Africa's tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings from exports.

Driven by green development, digital innovation and other programs, Chinese companies have also implemented a large number of clean energy projects in Africa, while exports of lithium batteries and photovoltaic products to Africa have increased significantly, Tang said.

Major benefits

During a news conference, Liu Junfeng, deputy head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said that tasks related to Chinese aid and development cooperation under the nine programs have all been completed over the past three years, with tangible results.

For instance, 25 medical and health projects have materialized, including the China-aided headquarters for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bobo-Dioulasso hospital project in Burkina Faso.

To help African countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has over the past three years supplied 240 million vaccine doses, as well as batches of medicine and medical equipment to Africa, and dispatched medical teams to provide technical assistance, Liu said.

He said China has also provided assistance to African countries in areas including employment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building and people-to-people exchanges.

Stronger ties

Tang said China and Africa will continue to deepen their friendship and discuss cooperation plans during the FOCAC 2024 Summit, scheduled to be held in Beijing from Sept 4 to 6.

"China will expand institutional opening-up to Africa and deepen cooperation on industrial and supply chains, so as to further advance China-Africa economic cooperation and development linkage for shared benefits," Tang said.

Shen Xiang, director of the West Asia and Africa Department under the Ministry of Commerce, said at the news conference that China has been actively exploring new models of financial cooperation with Africa and is committed to providing support for the sustainable economic development of African countries.

"In the future, we will continue to encourage and support financial institutions from China and Africa to innovate financial cooperation models, enrich financial service products, and focus on supporting cooperation on green development, digital economy and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises," Shen said.

He said that a conference of Chinese and African entrepreneurs will also be held during the summit, featuring two discussion topics on industrial and supply chain cooperation and the development of emerging industries.

The discussions will enable the sharing of successful experiences in cooperation between Chinese and African entrepreneurs under the guidance of the forum's initiatives, with a view to exploring new cooperation opportunities, he said.

Xinhua