China, Africa trade volume rises 14% to $170b

An aerial photo of China-built Brazzaville cable-stayed bridge in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, June 10, 2018. (Xinhua Photo)

China-Africa trade volume increased 14 percent year-on-year to $170 billion last year, making the country the largest trading partner of Africa for nine consecutive years, said Qian Keming, vice-minister of Commerce, at a briefing on Aug 28 about the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Trade volume between China and Africa rose 16 percent on a yearly basis to $98.8 billion in the first half of the year, the vice-minister said, adding that average direct investment from China to Africa stayed at $3 billion annually in the past three years. Major investment projects witnessed proactive development with new breakthroughs in cooperation in manufacturing, finance, tourism, and aviation industries, he said.

"The 10 major programs" between China and Africa was proposed at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg in December 2015, with China launching and pushing forward the programs right after the forum. The 10 major programs are all underway, with some exceeding expectations, said Qian.

After the programs are completed, Africa will have 30,000 km of new roads and 85 million tons of harbor capacity per year, as well as more than 9 million tons of clean water treatment capacity annually. The programs will also create about 900,000 local jobs for African countries, the vice-minister said.

Besides training more than 40,000 African officials and technicians in China, the country also set up two dozens of regional vocational education centers and capacity-building institutes in Africa, and cultivated more than 200,000 professional and technical personnel for African countries.

Hundreds of programs, ranging from agriculture, poverty reduction, public health, and trade and investment facilitation were launched in Africa as well. About 1,500 medical team members from China diagnosed and treated 460,000 patients in African countries, added the vice-minister.

China will assist in developing Africa's endogenous growth capacity, in full consideration of the connections among the Belt and Road Initiative, the African Union's Agenda 2063, the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and respective developing strategies of African countries, said Qian. African countries will extensively participate in the designing of future China-Africa trade cooperation during the upcoming Beijing Summit from Sept 3 to 4, added the vice-minister.

China's aid to Africa will also turn from the past "blood transfusion" model into "blood production" model, said Qian. In the past, China has aided the Africa in multiple aspects, including people's livelihood, and it will continue to cultivate Africa's endogenous growth capacity, which determines Africa's future development potential and prospects, said the vice-minister, adding that core infrastructure and talent training are all important measures in achieving the goal.

Besides providing assistance in hardware such as infrastructure construction in Africa, China will support African countries in software such as sharing developing experiences in investment promotion, preferential policy making, and management experiences in building economic and trade zones, Qian said.

According to the vice-minister, more than 30 heads of state and government will attend the High-level Dialogue of China-Africa Leaders and Business Representatives and the 6th China-Africa Business Forum during the Beijing Summit, with over 700 African entrepreneurs signed up for the conference already.