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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China grants tariff-free access to 6 African countries in bid to boost food imports and rebalance trade

  • Angola, Gambia, Congo, Madagascar, Mali and Mauritania will not pay duties on 98 per cent of taxable products
  • Beijing aims to import more agricultural goods from least-developed countries amid criticism that it mostly buys raw materials from the continent

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Construction crew members work at the Sonangol Luanda Refinery in Angola in October 2020. The country is Africa’s second-largest oil producer, and much of its petroleum is exported to China. Photo: AFP
Jevans Nyabiage
Beijing has granted six African countries zero-tariff treatment on 98 per cent of products entering the massive Chinese market, joining dozens of others granted tariff relief as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to boost agricultural imports from the continent.
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Starting on December 25, 98 per cent of taxable products from Angola, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Mali and Mauritania will be exempt from tariffs when entering China, according to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.
The African nations are some of the most resource-rich on the continent – especially the DRC, the source of more than 60 per cent of China’s cobalt imports, and Angola, a major exporter of petroleum and diamonds.

The commission said the move aimed to symbolise “the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation” and facilitate “a high-quality China-Africa community with a shared future”.

Over the past two years, 21 other African countries have benefited from the removal of tariffs on 98 per cent of their products.

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