China removes tariffs for imports from six other African countries

China’ Customs Tariff Commission announced earlier this week the removal of tariffs for taxable products from six African countries, State-run Xinhua news agency reports.

The move aims to embody the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation, and facilitate a high-quality China-Africa community with a shared future, the commission reportedly said.

Under the measure to be enacted from 25 Dec., 98 percent of taxable products from Angola, The Gambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mali, and Mauritania will be exempt from tariffs when entering China.

The Asian giant will expand its zero-tariff treatment to all the least-developed countries with which it has established diplomatic relations, the Commission indicated.

In November last year, Beijing took similar measures for nine African countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea‑Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Three other African countries, Djibouti, Togo, and Rwanda had benefited from the same measures in September the same year.

Chinese agricultural imports from Africa are significant and growing, and the country has become the continent’s second largest export market after the USA. China imported a record $5 billion of agricultural products from Africa in 2021.