CIIE Makes More Room for African Agricultural Products

The 7th China International Import Expo 2024 (#CIIE2024) opened in Shanghai on 5 November 2024 with Tanzania as one of the ‘Guests of Honor’ countries. For this edition of the #CIIE, more exhibition area has been allocated to promote agricultural products from Africa.

During the FOCAC Summit 2024 (#FOCAC2024), Xi Jinping pledged to further open the Chinese market and invited countries to leverage trade expos, like #CIIE and #CAETE, to market their products. Since the #FOCAC Ministerial Conference in 2021 (#FOCAC2021), China also activated the #GreenChannel for numerous African agricultural products entering the Chinese market.

In addition, China has scrapped customs tariffs altogether for the Least Developed Countries (#LDC). The LDC were also accorded special consideration at #CIIE2024.

In a bid to boost trade, Mauritius took the lead to become the first African country to enact a Free Trade Agreement (#FTA) with China since January 2021. During the last #FOCAC Summit, Mauritius and China also inked a Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement (#BCSA) in order to facilitate trade settlement using national currencies.

Coffee from Ethiopia, tea from Kenya, sugar from Mauritius, cocoa from Togo, and wine from South Africa form the mainstay of the agricultural products from Africa. At #CIIE2024, mutton meat from Madagascar, honey from Tanzania, cashew from Cote d’Ivoire, to name a few, made a notable appearance.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), China imports from Africa reached USD 87 billion for the first three quarters of 2024, representing a 10.3% growth year-on-year. The overall trade volume between China and Africa is expected to surpass USD 300 billion for 2024, compared to USD 282 billion in 2023.