China trade with CPLP countries in Africa in H1 up 22% YoY; Mozambique is second largest partner

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China trade with CPLP countries in Africa in H1 up 22% YoY; Mozambique is second largest partner

10:40 CAT | 03 Sep 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Macauhub]

The value of trade between China and members in Africa of the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP) in the first half of this year was up by an average of 22% on a year earlier, to $13.7 billion (€12.3 billion), according to official customs data from China.

The largest slice of China’s trade with such countries is with Angola, largely due to the latter’s sale of oil to the Asian giant, which accounted for almost all of its exports to the country in the period, at $10.6 billion. China’s exports to Angola were worth $1.5 billion.

In second place among China’s biggest partners in Portuguese-language Africa is Mozambique, which sold $721 million in goods and services and bought the equivalent of $1.6 billion.

In the cases of Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique, there was a drop in trade of 12.8% and 6.0% respectively on a year earlier.

The increase in trade between Portuguese-languge countries and China reflects the latter’s aim to increase not only its trade relations with Africa, but especially the volume of imports, to counter criticism of a trade imbalance in China’s favour.

In 2021, at the most recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China promised to increase imports of African products to $300 billion (€271 billion) by 2024, up from the $275 billion it averaged in the previous three years, that is between 2019 and 2021.

“While not an overly ambitious target, it was important, firstly because it was the first African import target, and secondly because it was the first African import target set by any development partner,” wrote analyst Rosie Wigmore of consultancy Development Reimagined in a special dossier produced in conjunction with African Business magazine.

In the article, published in the run up to another FOCAC that is to take place this week in Beijing, the analyst notes that the target is only $14 billion away, while emphasising that although there has been an increase in African exports to China, African purchases have grown faster, thus worsening the deficit.

“The good news is that the target should be met, but the bad news is that since 2022 the trade deficit has actually widened, from 39 billion dollars in 2021 (35.24 billion euros) to 63 billion dollars (56.9 billion euros) in 2023,” writes Wigmore.

Last year, she adds, 83% of exports to China were made by just eight countries, all of them rich in natural resources.

Among the measures that African and Chinese leaders could approve this week in Beijing, the analyst suggests mechanisms to finance African banks, lower customs duties and harness the potential of the continental free trade agreement in Africa.

FOCAC 9 – with the motto ‘Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level Sino-African Community with a Shared Future’ – is to take place from 4 to 6 September in Beijin, with preliminary meetings already underway, and will be attended by China’s president, Xi Jinping.

According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is “a platform for collective dialogue, uniting China with the African Union Commission and the 53 African countries that maintain diplomatic relations with China.”

CHINA TRADE……..1ST HALF 2024…..YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE

Angola…………….10,628……………4.6%

Cabo Verde……….. …..56.6…………11.4%

Guinea-Bissau………….35.1…………80.8%

Equatorial Guinea……..675………….-12.8%

Mozambique………….2,388…………..-6.0%

São Tomé and Príncipe……9.3…………56.5%

SOURCE: China Customs Bureau Statistics

AMOUNTS in millions of dollars

Source: Lusa