Trade between China and Africa surged to $167 billion in the first seven months of 2024, according to the latest figures from China’s General Administration of Customs. Chinese exports to the continent during that period reached $97 billion, according to the Africa Report, while African exporters recorded sales of $69 billion.
The vast majority of African exports to China are in the form of raw materials, or so-called intermediate goods, which account for 68% of total bilateral trade, and were up 6.4% year-on-year in the first seven months of the year.
African countries are overly dependent on selling unprocessed raw materials to China, consistent with established trade patterns between the two sides. According to research by the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University, from 2000 to 2022, 89% of African exports to China were raw materials, mostly oil, copper and other extractives.
“If the current pace of trade between China and Africa continues, the two sides are on track to surpass last year’s $282 billion in bilateral trade volume,” says the Africa Report.
While Chinese authorities are quick to claim that they have been Africa’s largest trading partner over the past 15 years, this is somewhat misleading. Africa is a continent, China is a country. Asia is Africa’s largest trading partner, according to data from Afreximbank.
Other sources claim that the EU remains Africa’s largest trading partner, with China likely to take the title by 2030.
“When we look at the breakdown of China-Africa trade at the national level, the numbers are not entirely rosy given that two-thirds of China’s trade with the continent is concentrated in just 6-8 countries,” the site says.
