China has announced that it plans to sign a new trade agreement with Africa that will remove all tariffs for exports from 53 African countries that it enjoys diplomatic relations with.

The move is expected to immensely benefit African countries, especially middle-income African nations like Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco.

As we speak, China already offers duty-free and quota-free access to the countries it classifies as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), majority of which are located in Africa.

However, the new deal is expected to extend these benefits to stronger, middle-income economies as well, according to the communication disseminated by Beijing on Thursday.

“China is ready to welcome quality products from Africa to the Chinese market,”

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said China’s foreign ministry after a recent high-level meeting with African foreign ministers in Changsha.

China also indicated that it recognizes that poorer countries among them Tanzania and Mali may struggle to compete effectively once the key market is open to stronger economies.

Towards alleviating this challenge, China has promised additional support for LDCs, including training and marketing assistance to ensure those nations are not left behind.

Experts say this move gives countries with more advanced industries and value-added goods a great opportunity to sell to the massive 1.4-billion people strong Chinese market.

In 2024, China had a trade surplus of $62 billion with Africa, meaning Africa imported far more goods from China than it exported to the leading global economic powerhouse.

With this agreement, trade is set to become more balanced between China and Africa with the opening of the Chinese market more widely to African goods set to help reduce the gap.

This new initiative builds on promises made at 2024’s summit in Beijing, where China pledged 360 billion yuan (about $50 billion) in loans and investments for Africa over three years, a major return to large-scale funding after slowing down during the pandemic.

Currently, China is Africa's largest trading partner, a position it has enjoyed for the past 15 years, with Africa exporting goods to the Asian leader worth about USD170 billion in 2023.

Trade between China and Africa grew by 4.8 per cent to reach USD295.56 billion in 2024, compared to 2023, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Chinese annual exports to Africa grew by 3.5 per cent in 2024, totaling USD178.76 billion, as imports from Africa to China also expanded by 6.9 per cent to settle at USD116.79 billion.

This saw Africa’s trade deficit with China narrow to USD61.93 billion in 2024, down from USD64 billion in 2023 even as structural trade imbalances between the two regions persist.