China-Africa trade volume soars by 35%!

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China recently, the total bilateral trade between China and Africa will reach US$254.3 billion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%. From January to September 2021, China's direct investment in the entire African industry wa

China's investment in Africa remains stable, with high-quality projects emerging

Recently, a number of high-quality investment flagship projects have emerged in China's investment in Africa, which has become a strong driving force for the improvement and upgrading of China-Africa pragmatic cooperation.

On February 1st, local time, with the announcement of the final investment decision by the Ugandan government, the first commercial oil discovery in Uganda, with a Chinese company as one of the operators, officially launched the full-scale construction of the Albert Lake Oilfield Project. This project is an important achievement of deepening China-Africa cooperation.

The Albert Lake Oilfield Project was discovered in the Albert Lake area of western Uganda in 2006. It is the first commercial oil discovery in Uganda. The oilfield covers an area of 1,518 square kilometers and has proven geological reserves of over 6 billion barrels. The prelude to oil and gas exploration and development in East Africa. The oilfield project will also build the first oil pipeline in East Africa spanning Uganda and Tanzania with a total length of 1,443 kilometers, providing an important guarantee for the export of crude oil.

With the construction and commissioning of the Albert Lake Oilfield, Uganda, which takes traditional agriculture and animal husbandry as its main economic source, will usher in new development opportunities and become an important crude oil producer in East Africa.

The construction of industrial parks is an important platform for China's investment in Africa, which is welcomed by African countries. For Africa, the construction of industrial parks can not only solve a large number of jobs, but also improve the level of local industrialization. Many African countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda have formulated industrial park development plans and issued corresponding regulations and policies.

China has continued to expand its imports of African goods, driving the recovery of African trade. Although the new crown pneumonia epidemic is still spreading in Africa and many ports are not functioning smoothly, the trade volume between China and Africa still bucked the trend and rose to the highest level in history.

In recent years, China has been expanding the channels for African products to enter the Chinese market. Inadvertently, you will find that more and more high-quality African agricultural products have entered the Chinese market.

With the recent signing of the "Zimbabwe Citrus Export Protocol", citrus from Zimbabwe will enrich the Chinese people's vegetable basket and help local poverty alleviation and farmers, and promote the recovery and development of Zimbabwe's agriculture.

In 2021, Kenya's exports to China will reach US$227 million, a year-on-year increase of 50.5%. China and Kenya recently signed an agreement on the export of Kenyan fresh avocados and aquatic products to China.

In addition to Kenya, South African avocado growers also hope that they will be the next category to enter the Chinese market.

In recent years, China and Africa have actively carried out digital economic cooperation, providing China's development experience and support for the construction of "Digital Africa".

Digital infrastructure and digital technology cooperation will provide impetus for the rapid development of Africa's digital economy.

Chinese companies provide African digital operators with equipment and technical services, effectively improving the level of regional informatization in Africa and helping the implementation of African economic digital transformation projects. Under the leadership of the global digital economy, China-Africa digital economic cooperation has achieved phased results.

How the digital economy will drive the overall economic growth in Africa in the future, how China-Africa digital economic cooperation under the background of the "Belt and Road" initiative will help the efficient development of Africa's digital economy, and promote the construction of "Smart Africa" still needs further exploration.

The African Continental Free Trade Area has been launched, the AU's Agenda 2063 has been accelerated, and new opportunities have been seized. China and Africa have entered a new stage of development. The two sides have complementary advantages and broad opportunities for economic and trade cooperation.

Some experts pointed out that China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is in a critical period of transformation, upgrading and development. China, together with Africa, should continue to consolidate cooperation in traditional fields such as trade and investment, health, agricultural poverty reduction, infrastructure, and human resources, and actively expand the digital economy. , green low-carbon, smart city, 5G and other new business forms cooperation, to create a new growth point of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.