China has announced plans to remove all tariffs on imports from all African countries except one as part of efforts to deepen trade relations and open up its vast consumer market to the continent.
The pledge, made during a high-level economic and trade forum with African ministers in Changsha this week, marks a major expansion of China’s preferential trade policy, which previously applied mostly to least-developed countries (LDCs).
If implemented, the policy will grant duty- and quota-free access to all African nations that have diplomatic ties with Beijing, excluding Eswatini, which mainly holds ties with Taiwan.
Officials say the new tariff-free arrangement will be formalised through negotiations and signed agreements in the coming months.
In 2024, bilateral trade between African countries and China reached a record high of $295.6 billion, while trade in the first quarter of 2025 hit $72.6 billion, up 2.7 per cent from the same period last year, according to data provided by the Chinese government.
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Since December 1, 2024, China has already offered zero tariffs on all tariff lines to African LDCs that have formal relations with Beijing. Chinese authorities say this has boosted exports from countries like Tanzania, Mali, and Ethiopia.
The proposed extension of the same treatment to middle-income African economies such as Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt is now seen as a further opening of China’s consumer market to African goods.
China also committed to offering additional support, such as product marketing assistance and training for African exporters, particularly from low-income countries, to improve their competitiveness in the Chinese market.
“The goal is to share development opportunities and promote inclusive globalisation,” said Li Fei, the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, adding that the move aligns with China’s broader South-South cooperation agenda.
But with China’s trade surplus with Africa still hovering above $60 billion, the proposed zero-tariff policy is seen as a way to rebalance trade flows and strengthen Beijing’s influence on the African continent at a time of growing geopolitical competition.
“The United States is abusing tariffs in the name of ‘reciprocity,’ putting its self-interest above the common good of the international community,” the Chinese government wrote on Thursday.
It criticised the U.S. tariff decisions as an infringement on “the legitimate rights and interests of all countries,” and a cause of “tremendous difficulties to the economic and social development and improvement of people’s livelihoods of African nations and other developing countries.”
African leaders at the forum also jointly called on the United States to return to what they described as a “rational and inclusive” approach to global trade.
While no timeline has been confirmed, Chinese authorities say implementation of the new tariff policy will begin once agreements are signed with each participating country.
