Coronavirus: China-Africa trade down 14 per cent in first quarter to US$41 billion

Closure of factories and ports as part of efforts to battle Covid-19 sees China’s imports fall 17.5 per cent in January-March period, while exports drop by 10.5 per cent, customs agency says

Slump comes as no surprise and figures should improve once China’s industrial sector gets back on its feet, ‘probably in the second half of the year’, analyst says

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The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on trade between China and Africa. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 5:00pm, 22 Apr 2020Updated: 11:31pm, 22 Apr 2020

Trade between China and Africa plummeted in the first quarter of the year, as the coronavirus piled extra pressure on the world’s second-largest economy, which continues to struggle with the impact of a punishing and drawn-out tariff war with the United States.

Two-way trade in the January-March period dropped 14 per cent year on year to US$41.23 billion as the closure of Chinese factories and ports in January and February – as part of a nationwide effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 – damaged both exports and imports, according to official figures from China’s General Administration of Customs.

China’s imports from Africa, mostly raw materials for industry, such as oil and metals, fell by 17.5 per cent in the quarter to US$19.8 billion, while exports dropped 10.5 per cent to US$21.4 billion.

China’s imports from Africa fell by 17.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, while exports dropped 10.5 per cent. Photo: Bloomberg

China is the world’s largest oil importer but demand for the fuel from suppliers in African countries like Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria slumped in line with the economic slowdown, and its price nosedived on international markets.

In February, Angola’s state-owned oil firm Sonangol was forced to resell an oil shipment at a discount after its intended Chinese buyer cancelled the order because of the port closures, according to London-based consultancy Capital Economics.