Today is a great day. From today on, China will officially implement the zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations, thereby charting a new chapter of the mutually beneficial China-Africa cooperation. This is the major upgrade of China’s preferential trade policies towards Africa. In December 2024, China granted zero-tariff treatment to 33 least developed African countries.
To date, China’s zero-tariff treatment has been expanded to cover all 53 African countries with diplomatic ties and 100 percent of tariff lines. This is entirely China’s unilateral voluntary concession with no political strings attached, as well as the major opening-up measure China adopts in the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This is also the first time that a major global economy extends comprehensive zero-tariff treatment to African countries with diplomatic ties.
The zero-tariff treatment is a set of synchronized policies. China has also upgraded many supporting measures to drive the tariff to zero and eliminate non-tariff barriers. For example, streamline the customs clearance procedures and improve the “green lane” initiative to cut the clearance and turnaround time, utilize the China International Import Expo, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo as well as the cross-border e-commerce platforms to facilitate market access for fine African products such as coffee, tea, avocado, and macadamia. The mix of coordinated measures effectively reduces transaction cost caused by information asymmetry or lack of distribution channels, accurately aligns supply with demand, as well as identify and amplify the policy and institutional dividends.
The zero-tariff treatment is the catalyst for China-Africa cooperation. In 2025, China-Africa trade reached USD 348 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 17.7% and setting a new historical record. China has remained Africa’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. The full implementation of the zero-tariff treatment heralds new opportunities for China and Africa to enhance and expand trade and investment cooperation. In the near term, this policy will substantially raise the competitiveness of African products in the Chinese market, unleash the potential of trade with China for African countries, and expand the scale and profitability of African exports to China. In the medium and long term, this policy will encourage more Chinese companies to invest and operate in Africa, support the continent’s industrialization, agricultural modernization, and regional integration, better integrate Africa into global industry, supply, and value chains, and further broaden, deepen, and elevate the mutually beneficial China-Africa cooperation.
As the saying goes, “One hand cannot clap alone while many hands make light work.” To fully benefit from the zero-tariff treatment, close coordination and collaboration between China and Africa are essential. The negotiation, signing, and approval of the Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development (CADEPA) should be accomplished at an early date. Policies of both sides should be better aligned. The rules of the origin certification system should be established and optimized, and mutual recognition of standards should be enhanced to ensure the timely entry of African companies into the Chinese market.
More China-Africa trade fairs and exhibitions should be held, and more African companies should be encouraged to participate. Logistics should be smoothed out to better connect African and Chinese markets. Quality control and brand building should be enhanced to turn the African countries’ specialty products into bestsellers favored by Chinese consumers. Moreover, efforts should be made to continuously improve the business environment in Africa to attract more Chinese investment.
The zero-tariff treatment demonstrates the essence of the community with a shared future for humanity. A favorable international environment is indispensable for developing countries to achieve modernization. Certain countries pose enormous challenges to developing countries by pursuing unilateralism, protectionism, and trade bullying, which severely disrupt the global trade order. In contrast, the implementation of the zero-tariff treatment is a vivid example of China taking concrete actions to promote the common development of the Global South and practicing the vision of the community with a shared future for humanity. This serves not only to bolster confidence in Africa’s growth, contribute to China and Africa’s joint pursuit of modernization, but also to uphold the global trade system as well as boost international cooperation with Africa.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and African countries. 70 years on, China-Africa relations have made important progress with the concerted efforts of both sides, exemplified by touching stories from the Tazara Railway to today’s zero-tariff treatment. We will never stop our efforts to advance China-Africa relations.
China will seize the opportunity of the official implementation of zero-tariff treatment to strengthen solidarity with African countries, including Kenya, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, and build together the all-weather community with a shared future for the new era.
Guo Haiyan is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Kenya.
