On May 1st, goods from 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China will enter the Chinese market without paying tariffs for 100% of their tax items. Previously, China had implemented a zero tariff policy for 33 African countries. The zero tariff upgrade measures not only fulfill China's commitment to opening up the African market and deepening bilateral trade between China and Africa, but also promote the zero tariff process. China will introduce a series of supporting measures to facilitate the export of African goods to China, such as shortening customs clearance time and establishing a "green channel" for African goods. Through these measures, China's opening up to Africa will reach a new height.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the trade volume between China and Africa will reach 348 billion US dollars in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 17.7%. Among them, exports to Africa will reach 225.031 billion US dollars (an increase of 25.8%), and imports from Africa will reach 123.021 billion US dollars (an increase of 5.4%). China has maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. With the benefits of relevant policies and institutional dividends, the African economy will catch up with the fast train of China's development and find more development opportunities in the Chinese market.

During an interview with an International Business Daily reporter, Zhou Wei, a researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that China has always maintained a firm attitude in supporting trade development and expanding the proportion of zero tariffs on African countries, hoping to create more development opportunities for African countries in the Chinese market. The zero tariff measures fully demonstrate China's contribution to global development, and also demonstrate that China is not only highly competitive in exports, but also advancing in imports, thereby continuously promoting more balanced trade. In the current uncertain environment of high tariffs, China's determination to open up its market can bring more stable development space to all parties and increase the confidence of countries in developing trade relations with China. A stable and open market can help countries avoid the impact of uncertain risks.

Subtraction: Reduce tariffs

The reduction of tariffs is for real money and silver. Some products in Africa that used to have high tariffs, such as coffee, rainbow fruit, avocado, macadamia nut, beef, seafood, etc., can now enter the Chinese market at lower prices. This not only benefits African companies, but also enriches the Chinese consumer market, drives Chinese consumption, and meets consumers' demand for a variety of high-quality goods. The reduction of tariffs reduces logistics time. African avocados, nuts, and aquatic products not only enjoy zero tariffs, but also enjoy the "green channel". Enterprises benefit from improved customs clearance efficiency, reduced logistics costs, and consumers enjoy fresh and high-quality products. These are all real discounts. Reducing tariffs is about rules, while zero tariffs pave the way for recognition of origin standards, removal of trade barriers, and integration and docking of industrial parks.

Jin Zhen, an assistant researcher at the Chongyang Institute of Finance at Renmin University of China, told reporters that the zero tariff measure demonstrates China's unwavering strategic choice to promote a new system of higher-level open economy. In recent years, some Western countries have continuously raised trade barriers through tariffs, industrial subsidies, and supply chain security policies, exacerbating global economic and trade turbulence and market uncertainty. In this context, China has taken the initiative to expand the scope of zero tariffs on African products exported to China, firmly upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system through practical actions, demonstrating its firm determination and great power responsibility to adhere to open cooperation and promote common development. This measure not only injects stability and positive energy into the global economic recovery, but also helps to further deepen China-Africa trade and investment cooperation, consolidate the material foundation of the China-Africa community of shared future, and promote the sustained development of the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.

Addition: Increasing trade

The implementation of zero tariffs will continue to deepen China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and increase trade exchanges between the two sides. At a time when global trade is facing the impact of protectionism and development difficulties, the zero tariff policy has brought policy dividends to trade between China and Africa, injecting stabilizers into the development of global trade. On the basis of tariff preferences, China and Africa will also promote the signing of an economic partnership agreement for common development, with comprehensive investment cooperation and the construction of a more comprehensive economic and trade cooperation framework.

Jin Zhen believes that in the long run, the expansion of trade scale and cooperation in industrial and supply chains will bring greater comprehensive benefits to China. Implementing zero tariffs is beneficial for African agricultural, mineral, and light industrial products to enter the Chinese market more conveniently, thereby expanding the scale of bilateral trade between China and Africa, optimizing Africa's trade structure with China, and promoting more African countries to deeply integrate into China's industrial and supply chain system. With the growth of trade scale, deepening of investment cooperation, and continuous improvement of supporting services such as logistics and finance, the overall scale and development quality of China-Africa economic and trade relations will be effectively improved. The resulting economic spillover effects and development dividends will far exceed the tariff reduction itself.

Thoroughly pointed out that reducing tariffs promotes trade development, facilitates factor allocation, and enhances efficiency. Enterprises can choose their business direction globally at lower costs, and global operations reduce the pressure on enterprise development, enhancing the sustainability and resilience of development. The two-way flow of trade will also effectively enhance China's position in the global supply chain.

Multiplication: Establishing Rules

Driven by zero tariffs, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is gradually moving towards a three-dimensional layout of "channels + platforms + industries," with institutional openness as the main focus and rules as the auxiliary. For example, Hunan's Hunan-Guangdong non-rail sea intermodal transportation has built an efficient and convenient logistics channel for African specialty products to enter Hunan, reducing comprehensive logistics costs by nearly 20% compared to traditional channels. At the same time, under the policy of "processing value-added without tariffs," agricultural products from Hainan and Africa are gradually forming an efficient and interconnected industrial chain.

Zhou Wei said that in terms of institutional openness, China-Africa cooperation should combine software and hardware. In terms of hardware, we should promote the continuous improvement of Africa's "three networks and one integration" and further strengthen the ability of interconnection and intercommunication. On the basis of hardware, enterprise economic and trade cooperation will be more flexible. In addition, it is necessary to promote some institutional construction. In addition to tariffs, it is necessary to reduce the impact of differences in standards and regulations on trade exchanges, strengthen facilitation measures for inspection and quarantine as well as food hygiene inspection, promote personnel and financial flows between the two sides, provide more effective references for future cooperation in the field of digital economy, and promote the sustained stability of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

Jin Zhen believes that significant progress has been made in China-Africa cooperation at the level of institutional openness, while there is still room for deepening. China has signed framework agreements for common development economic partnerships with 33 African countries, providing stable and convenient access for African products to the Chinese market. On this basis, we can further promote long-term stable trade system arrangements, accelerate the signing of economic partnership agreements for common development with more African countries, and improve the long-term zero tariff mechanism. At the same time, we will accelerate institutional integration in areas such as cross-border e-commerce, digital trade, financial settlement, and standard certification, and continue to improve the convenience of market access for African enterprises.