China's General Administration of Customs recently released statistics show that in 2021, China's total trade with Africa amounted to 254.3 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 35.3% over 2020. Among them, the African region's exports to China amounted to $105.9 billion, a 43.7% jump from 2020.
China-Africa trade outperformed that of China and the rest of the world in 2021, mainly because of China's expanding imports of African products, in addition to rising international prices for commodities, the South China Morning Post quoted Mark Bolond, a senior analyst at emerging markets data provider Rede Consulting, as saying.
According to Charles Robertson, Chief Economist for Emerging and Frontier Markets at RBZ, China's exports of medical equipment to Africa are also contributing to the development of China-Africa trade.
Moritz Weigel, founder of Germany-based China Africa Consulting, said in an interview with the newspaper that China-Africa trade has recovered from negative impacts such as supply chain disruptions caused by the epidemic.
Weigel said the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has put forward a series of measures to promote trade, which will accelerate the growth of China-Africa trade, especially China's commitment to provide financial support and simplify trade processes. Many African countries have also signed agreements with China to export agricultural products such as chili peppers, pistachios, sesame seeds and spices. He believes that Africa's exports to China will continue to grow in 2022, and the types of products exported will be more diversified.