The announcement, made yesterday at the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo meeting in Changsha, China, extends Beijing’s existing duty-free arrangements beyond the continent’s least developed countries to include middle-income nations such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco.

176 projects were signed during this conference, worth $11.4 billion, marking a 45.8% increase in project count compared with last year’s conference.

The Trump administration announced levies of up to 50% on imports from several African countries earlier this year, though implementation has been delayed until next month.

“Faced with an international situation marked by changes and turmoil, China and Africa should uphold solidarity and self-reliance more than ever,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a direct challenge to US trade policy.

This represents Beijing’s most comprehensive trade offer to Africa to date and could help address China’s substantial $62 billion trade surplus with the continent. China has been Africa’s largest trading partner, main investor, and largest creditor since 2009. African exports to China were worth approximately $295 billion in 2024, a 4.8% year-on-year (YoY) increase, largely due to an increase in the prices of raw materials last year.

However, the initiative may fundamentally alter trade patterns, given that most African exports to China consist of raw materials, ores and oil with limited added value, thereby potentially reinforcing Africa’s role as a commodity supplier rather than encouraging industrial development.

The announcement excludes only Eswatini, the sole African country that maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province.

China’s offer mirrors the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which has provided preferential trade access to approximately 40 African states since 2000. However, since its enactment in 2000, the Trump administration’s broader tariff policies have undermined AGOA’s effectiveness. 

Beijing’s initiative forms part of President Xi Jinping’s broader diplomatic strategy to strengthen South-South cooperation and build what he terms “a community with a shared future”. Last September, China pledged $50 billion in credit lines and investments to African economies over three years. 

Nonetheless, China’s Belt and Road Initative (BRI) scheme of investment in developing economies has attracted mixed responses in Africa. In 2024, African countries received $29.2 billion in BRI deals, a 34% YoY increase, and this forum has presented an opportunity for china to deepen this connection. The ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ has been challenged by the emphasis on Chinese banks ot recoup their investments; at the same time, without their own goals clearly outlined, recipient countries risk becoming platforms for external agendas.

Washington has been reviewing its own Africa trade policy ahead of a US-Africa business summit scheduled for September. Many expect a revised version of AGOA to emerge from high-level economic consultations planned between June and September.