China flags more access for African agricultural exports is on the way

The issue is expected to feature prominently at the next forum on China-Africa cooperation in Senegal

Minerals and other raw materials make up the vast majority of Africa’s trade with the Asian giant

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A tea plantation in Kenya, where minerals make up 70 per cent of exports to China, despite the relatively small size of its resources industry. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00pm, 6 Sep 2021Updated: 10:21pm, 6 Sep 2021

China is preparing to expand its African imports beyond minerals and into agriculture, with detailed measures expected to be revealed at a trade forum in coming weeks.

The current trade imbalance is starkly illustrated by Kenya, known for its tea, coffee and cut flowers, none of which are among its top five exports to China. Instead, 70 per cent of the East African country’s sales to the Asian economic giant are minerals, despite the relatively small size of its resources industry.

According to 2019 data by the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Kenya’s main exports to China are titanium ore, niobium, tantalum, vanadium and zirconium ores, iron ore and manganese ore. China’s biggest suppliers of minerals include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Algeria.

But China wants to address the imbalance by coming up with policies and signing trade deals with African countries to give more access to agricultural products, according to a senior Chinese foreign ministry official. The issue is expected to feature prominently during the 21st Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), to be hosted by Senegal.

Dates for the forum, held every three years, are yet to be finalised.

Wu Peng, director general of the ministry’s department of African affairs, told independent multimedia news organisation the China Africa Project that Beijing was working on measures to ease the export of agricultural products from the continent to China, with details to be unveiled at the Dakar forum.

Wu said the ministry was working with its commerce counterpart, the customs authority and other agencies to map out the new policies which aim to boost agricultural imports from Africa and help reduce trade deficits.