Han Zheng’s African Tour Seeks to Align China Five-Year Plan with Africa Rising
From 22 to 30 March 2026, Chinese VP HAN Zheng undertook an African tour and visited in turn Kenya, South Africa and Seychelles. This visit occurs right after the #TwoSessions2026 in Beijing, during which the Chinese government elaborated the 15th Five-Year Plan (#FYP15) and the China-Africa bilateral trade experienced a record 18% year-on-year growth in 2025 to reach USD 348 billion.
Given the ‘unprecedented turbulences’, Africa is set to surpass the USA in terms of trade volume with China by the end of the decade. In addition, China needs Africa for several raw materials to keep its economic engine running. Even though Chinese FM Wang Yi completed his traditional African tour with visits to Ethiopia, Tanzania and Lesotho in January 2026, Chinese VP Han Zheng followed up with another tour in March 2026, underlining the significance of Africa within China’s diplomacy.
Both high-level visits promoted China’s new zero-tariff policy toward Africa, which was initially announced at #CAETE2025, but will come into effect as of the 1st of May 2026. Many observers note that the proof of the zero-tariff is in the African export figures, and it will be interesting to look at the 2026 trade figures at the end of the year.
In Kenya and South Africa, VP Han took part in a bilateral business fora where both sides presented potential areas of cooperation. Just as Kenya wishes to export more tea, avocadoes and flowers to China, South Africa wants to market more of its citrus, grapes, and meat to China.
South Africa is one of the rare African countries with a positive trade balance with China, thanks to its rich mineral wealth. In fact, China imports nearly 50% of its #manganese from South Africa. From the other side’s perspective, 70% of South African manganese is exported to China.
In terms of flagship cooperation projects, China and Kenya discussed the extension of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (#SGR) across the country and into the #EAC. Similarly, South Africa and China discussed the feasibility of developing a logistics corridor from seaport Durban to the dry port of Gauteng, with potential ramifications across #SADC. In Seychelles, the two countries focused on partnership in the #BlueEconomy and VP Han took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for a social housing project, a flagship ‘small yet beautiful’ under #FOCAC, financed by China Aid.
The next FOCAC Summit (#FOCAC2027) is scheduled to take place in the Republic of Congo in 2027, and usually, there is at least one ministerial-level meeting in preparation for the Summit. Also, HAN Zheng’s visit to Africa allows him to assess de visu how well the Ten-Point Action Plan for China-Africa Partnership (#TenActionPlan) is being implemented.