China-africa trade has reached a new high

In recent years, China and Africa have continued to deepen trade cooperation, and the scale of import and export has rapidly increased. According to Chinese Customs statistics, from 2000 to 2023, China-Africa trade increased from less than 100 billion yuan to 1.98 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 17.2%, 4.6 percentage points higher than the average annual growth rate of China's overall trade in goods during the same period. In 2023, the "China-Africa Trade Index" exceeded 1,000 points for the first time, reaching 1,010.83 (100 points in 2000), up 20.28 points from 990.55 in 2022, showing a good momentum of development. 

In the first seven months of this year, China's import and export to Africa reached 1.19 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.5 percent and a record high for the same period. 

In the seven months before the export growth of ships, automobiles, wind turbines and other mechanical and electrical products, China's exports to Africa reached 697.93 billion yuan. Among them, the export of mechanical and electrical products was 369.7 billion yuan, an increase of 4.9%, accounting for 53% of the total value of China's exports to Africa in the same period, driving the overall growth of exports to Africa by 2.5 percentage points, and exports of ships, automobiles, wind turbines and other products showed a rapid growth trend, increasing by 44.8%, 35.8% and 253.1% respectively. 

In the seven months before the cooperation in energy, mineral and agricultural products promoted the entry of related products into the Chinese market, China imported 490.89 billion yuan from Africa, up 15.5%. Among them, the import of metal ore and energy products from Africa totaled 162 million tons, valued at 259.3 billion yuan, an increase of 8.8%, accounting for 52.8% of the total value of China's imports from Africa. At the same time, the import of agricultural products has become a new bright spot in bilateral trade. In the first seven months of this year, China imported 25.35 billion yuan of agricultural products from Africa, up 7.2%, higher than the overall growth rate of China's agricultural imports. Imports of agricultural products with African characteristics such as sesame, flue-cured tobacco and macaroons increased by 38.8%, 32.7% and 106.2% respectively, accounting for over 40% of China's imports of similar products.