China removes tariffs in favour of six African countries
China's State Council this week announced the lifting of tariffs on imports from Angola, Gambia, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and DRC. This abolition of customs tariffs will come into force on 25 December.
A cargo ship loading goods in Qingdao, China, Jan. 14, 2020. AFP/STR
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde
The measure concerns 98% of taxable products from these countries such as coffee, palm oil, cotton, cocoa, fruit, seafood and spices... Until now, all these products have been taxed when they arrive in China.
Passion for coffee
With nearly 1.5 billion mouths to feed, China, which aims to be self-sufficient in cereals by 2032, continues to depend on imports for its food needs. Especially since with the rise in living standards, the 400 million Chinese middle class in particular have expanded their taste and consumption. At the end of Covid-19, the passion for coffee, for example, has surged in China, where the Chinese have now snatched the title of coffee kings from their Korean neighbours.
We are talking about finished products in this announcement. Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, was not mistaken. Meeting with a delegation of Chinese lawmakers last month, he called for China to further open its market to processed coffee, not just raw materials.
« Embodying the spirit of friendship »
At the BRICS summit in Johannesburg last August, Chinese President Xi Jinping also promised to help African countries create industries to process these products. This zero customs duties also applies to non-food products such as sisal and rubber. A total of 21 African countries have benefited from the programme in the last two years.
According to thestatement by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the tariff exemption policy aims to "embody the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and facilitate the creation of a high-quality China-Africa community with a common destiny" and is expected to eventually be extended to "all African least developed countries with which China has established diplomatic relations ». According to Chinese customs, trade between China and the continent in the first ten months of 2023 was close to €218 billion, including nearly €85 billion in imports of African products.
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