Closer ties with nation to lift African job market

China's new partnership actions for enhancing supply chain cooperation, foreign trade and connectivity with Africa will improve the continent's job market and modernization through infrastructure development and technology transfers, said business leaders and market watchers on Monday.

In Beijing last week, China unveiled 10 partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation over the next three years. The country will offer all least-developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent of tariff lines, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As for connectivity, China is ready to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa. It will also expand market access for African agricultural products, and deepen cooperation with Africa in e-commerce and other areas.

Experts said these initiatives aim to boost industrial capacity, foster sustainable growth and deepen trade relations between the two sides.

These moves will further enrich China-Africa business relations from the national level to grassroots engagement, resulting in the formation of a comprehensive and diversified framework of collaboration across different sectors, said Chen Fengying, a researcher at the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"Both favorable tariff policies and transportation infrastructure projects can lead to job creation in construction, manufacturing, logistics and related sectors," said Chen. "It will make it easier for African goods to enter both Chinese and international markets, boosting exports and generating more revenue for local businesses and economies."

Encouraged by this new momentum, Dong Wei, vice-chairman and CEO of COFCO International, a subsidiary of Beijing-based COFCO Corp, said the company will deploy more resources in Africa to purchase agricultural products, carry out technology transfers and invest in agriculture and transportation-related infrastructure facilities in the years ahead.

Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered COFCO International currently conducts agricultural trade with more than 10 African countries and is one of the largest integrated grain traders in South Africa.

The company is engaged in agricultural cultivation, trade, storage, processing and distribution, providing support for African agricultural resources to participate in the global market and contributing to meeting the food demand of the African population.

"We will seize the market opportunities in Africa, tap into the potential of local markets, expand our agricultural product operations in South Africa and West African countries, and establish a presence in more African markets," said Dong.

Echoing that sentiment, Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Chinese tech firm Xiaomi, said that Africa's economic growth outpaces the global average, and the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area promotes cross-border trade cooperation and market integration.

As many African countries have introduced supportive policies for green transition, Xiaomi, which operates businesses in 16 African countries, including Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya, is keen to capitalize on these opportunities by enhancing its partnerships with African businesses in a range of emerging industries, particularly in the field of new energy vehicles, said Lei.

Allan Majuru, CEO of ZimTrade, the national trade development and promotion agency of Zimbabwe, said China and Africa can also focus on cultivating new growth points for economic and trade cooperation and strengthening the driving force of new economic engines in the next step.

For example, in the clean energy sector, there is significant potential for China and Africa to deepen cooperation in areas like solar, hydro, wind and other renewable energy sources, he said.

Amid rising protectionism, geopolitical risks and challenges in the global economic recovery, closer China-Africa cooperation will also empower the Global South, safeguard their interests, pursue greater development opportunities and strengthen efforts to promote fairness in global governance, said Tang Xiaoyang, a professor specializing in international relations at Tsinghua University.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn