Published 12/06/2025 15:56 | Edited 12/06/2025 17:34
China has taken a decisive step to reposition its foreign and commercial policy in Africa by announcing, this week, the total elimination of import tariffs for all products from the 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations. The immediate effect was announced by President XI Jinping in a letter to the Ministerial Meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC), held in Changsha, Hunan Province.
It is a deep reconfiguration in the Sino African dynamics. Until then, preferential access to the Chinese market was limited to countries classified as less developed (LDCs). Now, African nations of average income, such as Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, will also be able to export to the Chinese market without tariff barriers, paving the way for a more qualified and balanced insertion in bilateral trade.
More than an economic gesture, the package represents a long -term political bet in partnership with the African continent – and a strategic response to the growing global competition for influence in the global south.
Beijing and Washington: Two views for global trade
China’s decision contrasts strongly with the US attitude adopted in international trade. While Beijing reaffirms his commitment to multilateralism and an “international rules -based international order” under UN and WTO aegis, Washington has adopted an increasingly unilateral and protectionist approach, marked by tariff imposition, revision of agreements and technological containment policies.
Since the first Trump administration-and intensifying under the Biden government and third of Trump-the US have been using tariffs as a geopolitical tool, especially against China and Global Southern countries. This behavior was directly criticized in Changsha Declarationthe main document of the Sino African ministerial meeting, which rejected “the use of fares as a political weapon” and defended a more inclusive globalization.
By expanding African countries to its vast domestic market, China offers a practical counterpoint and demoralizes the American model: instead of containment and dependence, partnership and openness.
Cooperation beyond trade: a development package with strategic bias
The tariff exemption announced by Xi Jinping is accompanied by a robust package of initiatives in the areas of infrastructure, technology, health, education and energy transition. These are measures that not only stimulate African exports, but also seek to strengthen the productive capacity of continent countries, focusing on industrialization and trade in higher value -added products.
Among the highlights of the package are:
- Training programs for African exporters;
- Reduction of non -tariff barriers, such as sanitary requirements and technical certifications;
- Creation of preferential access zones at commercial fairs and digital platforms;
- Support for clean energy projects, scanning of productive chains and technological innovation.
Chinese strategy explains a holistic view of cooperation, in which trade is part of a broader process of autonomous development and integration between Global South countries – central concept to Chinese diplomacy since the launch of the Cinturão and Rota (BRI) initiative.
Immediate results and long -term promise
The fruits of this approach are already noted. In the first five months of 2025, sino-African bilateral trade added $ 132 billion-a 12.4% growth over the same period of the previous year. More than $ 1.8 billion in new investments and US $ 20.6 billion in financing have been announced since the 2024 summit.
The Forum also served as the stage for the launch of new research centers, professional training programs and joint actions in safety and combating terrorism – components that expand the scope of the partnership beyond the economic dimension.
The Global South as the stage of the systemic dispute
China’s new onslaught in Africa does not occur in a vacuum. It is part of a transition context in the international order, marked by the systemic dispute between powers and the search for alternatives to the western model of foreign aid, often associated with political conditionalities and fiscal austerity.
By presenting the Sino African partnership as a “autonomous and multipolar” cooperation model, Beijing offers not only market access, but also a narrative: that development does not have to go through the protection of the great western powers.
Meanwhile, the US maintains its emphasis on sanctions, rates and asymmetrical bilateral agreements, focusing on national security and containment of rivals. The contrast could not be more evident – and it is in this contrast that China bets to consolidate its global influence.
Economic diplomacy as a key to geopolitical dispute
China’s diplomatic and economic offensive in Africa shows that the future of international trade will not be defined only by tariffs or figures, but by narratives, alliances and development models.
By leveling the field to African countries, strengthening local capabilities and rejecting protectionism, China is positioned as a global southern strategic partner-and directly challenges the logic of containment, unilateralism and zero-soma competition that still predominates in Washington.
If African countries will be able to transform this new space for sustainable development maneuver and economic sovereignty is still an open issue. But the geoeconomic board has already changed – and China seems to be several steps ahead.
Source: vermelho.org.br
