China-Africa economic relations set to deepen

Chinese and African business leaders will gather in Beijing next week to explore new avenues for deepening China-Africa industrial cooperation, paving the way for African countries to accelerate their integration into global industry and supply chains, said China's top foreign trade and investment promotion agency on Friday.

Speaking at a monthly news conference in Beijing, Wang Linjie, a spokeswoman for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the eighth Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs will be held in Beijing on Sept 6.

By the end of Thursday, representatives from 408 companies, business associations and other institutions across 48 African countries had registered to attend the meeting, according to information released by the CCPIT.

The participating companies span traditional industries such as energy, mining, infrastructure and trade, and emerging sectors like electronics, communication satellites and bio-pharmaceuticals.

Wang said that the conference will showcase both leading companies renowned for their role in China-Africa cooperation, as well as a substantial number of small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Chinese and African entrepreneurs can leverage this platform to enhance communication and collaboration, working together to identify new areas to advance China-Africa economic and trade cooperation in the next phase," she said.

The total trade value between China and Africa grew by 7.1 percent year-on-year to 1.98 trillion yuan ($275.72 billion) in 2023, statistics from China's General Administration of Customs showed.

This momentum has continued in the first seven months of 2024, with bilateral trade value surging 5.5 percent on a yearly basis to 1.19 trillion yuan during this period.

Engaging in more diversified forms of international production capacity cooperation with China will not only support African countries in job creation but also contribute to balanced growth, accelerating industrialization and improving industrial structures, said Wei Min, a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

China and numerous African countries have already cultivated new growth opportunities in areas such as green development, the digital economy and the modernization of industry and agriculture, said Wei.

While a large number of Chinese companies have made significant progress locally in industrial cooperation in Africa over the past decade, many African countries have also leveraged their unique characteristics and advantages to attract Chinese companies to establish a presence, said Huang Meibo, a professor specializing in China-Africa trade at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.

As Chinese companies have already established and operate various industrial zones in African countries such as Uganda, Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt, these zones enable countries to participate more effectively in the global supply chain and promote the internationalization of local brands, Huang said.

Thanks to the tangible growth of the Belt and Road Initiative and the complementary industrial structures of China and Africa, China's direct investment in Africa exceeded $40 billion by the end of 2023, statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission showed.

Such investment has helped Chinese companies to expand their sales and market share in Africa. For instance, Chaoyang Long March Tyre Co Ltd, a Chaoyang, Liaoning province-based tire manufacturer, saw its sales revenue jump nearly 95 percent year-on-year in the African market in the first seven months of this year, data from Shenyang Customs showed.

"The tires we produce are primarily used by large transport vehicles and mining engineering vehicles. We will deploy more resources and sales agents in key markets like Cameroon, Chad and Ghana in the coming months," said Jin Yongsheng, the company's general manager.

The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in Beijing next week. The leaders of China and Africa will discuss topics related to the theme "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future".

The event will celebrate bilateral friendship and chart the way forward for enhanced cooperation, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.