Trade between China and Africa in the first four months of 2023 totaled $94.4 billion, an upward trend of 8.9% over the same period a year earlier, China's General Administration of Customs reported.
China's exports to Africa climbed 26.9% compared to the same period of 2022 ($43.4 billion) to reach $58.9 billion from January 1 to April 30, 2023, statistics showed.
By contrast, imports from Africa totaled $35.5 billion, dropping 11.8% compared to the period from January to May of last year ($39.6 billion).
Analysts largely link the drop in Chinese imports from Africa to falling commodity prices and lower demand for minerals amid a slower-than-expected recovery of the Chinese economy.
"The slowdown of Chinese economic growth due to extended periods of lockdown and geopolitical tensions disrupting supply chains in 2022 has considerably increased mineral stockpiles in China and reduced demand for all commodities," Carlos Lopes, former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, told Chinese media.
Moreover, given that the trade surplus is in China's favor, the Chinese authorities are pursuing a policy aimed at eliminating this trade imbalance. Last September, Beijing lifted import duties on 98% of goods imported from nine African countries.
This tariff reform followed President Xi Jinping's announcement at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Dakar in November 2021 that the country aims to import more agricultural products from Africa. Xi added that the goal is to increase imports from Africa to $300 billion a year by 2035 from $100 billion in 2022.