According to Xinhua News Agency's report on September 5th, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation adopted the "Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building a New Era All-weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future" and the "Forum on China-Africa Cooperation - Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)".
Unilateral zero-tariff treatment was imposed on 43 countries
In the Partnership for Trade Prosperity Initiative, China has expressed its willingness to proactively and unilaterally expand market opening. It has decided to grant zero-tariff treatment to 100% of the tariff items of all less developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, including 33 African countries, and promote the huge Chinese market to become a great opportunity for Africa.
Africa is a continent with a relatively high concentration of underdeveloped countries in the world. In order to enhance its export competitiveness and promote its economic growth, China began to implement duty-free treatment for some goods exported to China from less developed African countries as early as 2005. Since then, this treatment has continued to expand and evolve.
It is worth noting that the original text reads "All the underdeveloped countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, including 33 African countries", so the total number should be 43 countries.
The standards for underdeveloped countries are recognized by the United Nations and updated annually. As of December 2023, there are a total of 45 underdeveloped countries worldwide. They are respectively:
Africa (33 countries in total) : Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Republic of Liberia, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Djibouti, Senegal Gal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, SAO Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
Asia (a total of 8 countries) : Myanmar, Laos, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Yemen.
Oceania (3 countries in total) : Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu.
North America (1 country) : Haiti.
Among them, Haiti and Tuvalu have not established diplomatic relations with China. Therefore, excluding these two countries, there are 43 countries.
The trade volume between China and Africa reached a new high in the first seven months
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was established in 2000. Currently, it has 55 members, including China, 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, and the African Union Commission.
The theme of this summit is "Join Hands to Promote Modernization and Build a High-level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future". After the opening ceremony, four meetings will also be held with the themes of governance, industrialization and agricultural modernization, peace and security, and high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.
According to the "Report on the Development of the Belt and Road Initiative Jointly Built by China and African Countries" released in August, China has remained a trading partner of Africa for 15 consecutive years, and the proportion of trade volume between China and Africa in Africa's total foreign trade volume has steadily increased.
According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, from 2000 to 2023, the trade volume between China and Africa has grown from less than 100 billion yuan to 1.98 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 17.2%, which is 4.6 percentage points higher than the average annual growth rate of China's overall goods trade during the same period.
In 2023, the "China-Africa Trade Index" surpassed 1,000 points, reaching 1,010.83 (100 points in 2000), an increase of 20.28 points compared to 2022 (990.55), demonstrating a favorable development trend.
Data shows that China's mechanical and electrical products such as ships, automobiles and wind turbine generators have become an important force driving the growth of exports to Africa.
In the first seven months of this year, China's imports and exports with Africa reached 1.19 trillion yuan, increasing by 5.5%. The scale hit a new high for the same period in history. The import of agricultural products has become a new highlight of bilateral trade.
Avocados from Kenya, sesame seeds from Tanzania, peanuts from Senegal and fresh pears from South Africa have successively entered the Chinese market. In the first seven months, China's imports of agricultural products from Africa reached 25.35 billion yuan, increasing by 7.2%, which was higher than the overall growth rate of China's agricultural product imports.
