By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The third edition of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan Province, on Sunday came to end with at least 120 projects with a value of $10.3 billion signed, according to data obtained by The Heritage Times HT.
About 99 cooperation projects were also announced, with a value of $8.7 billion, including 74 matchmaking projects with 11 African countries, the highest number ever.
The expo seen as a platform to further boost the bilateral cooperation under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) attracted 1,700 foreign and over 10,000 domestic participants, making the largest attendance ever.
Nearly 1,600 categories of goods from 29 African countries were exhibited, an increase of 166 percent over the previous edition, while the number of exhibitors recorded an increase of 70 percent over the previous edition to 1,500.
Participants at the expo made up of business executives and officials expressed their excitement and wish to seek more potential and opportunities for various sectors, including agriculture, energy through the platform, which seeks to expand trade relations between China and the African countries.
China is willing to provide new opportunities for Africa through Chinese modernization and high-quality development, and will make the pragmatic cooperation between the two sides deeper and more solid, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said while addressing the opening ceremony on Thursday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Han said that China firmly supports Africa in taking an independent development path, and will advance China-Africa cooperation under the BRI, forging a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.
Namibian Ambassador to China Elia George Kaiyamo spoke highly of the BRI, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with China in infrastructure, connectivity and trade. “We are present at the expo to learn from China’s best practices and explore opportunities for Chinese companies to cooperate and invest in Namibia,” Kaiyamo said.
China and Africa have great potential for cooperation, Niger’s Minister of Commerce Alkache Alhada said, adding that”China’s economic development is closely related to the destiny of Africa.”
Nigeria has so much to offer with a wide range of areas that China can invest in, said Ezra Yakusak, chief executive officer of the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment of Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
For instance, Nigeria has a young workforce of about 220 million, the biggest in Africa, and this is the opportunity for China to consider investing, he said, noting that he hopes the expo could be held yearly instead of once every two years.
China has remained Africa’s biggest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. In the first five months of 2023, the bilateral trade continued the strong momentum with the total value of imports and exports topping 822.32 billion yuan ($113.37 billion), which marked a year-on-year surge of 16.4 percent.
China-Africa annual trade is expected to reach $300 billion in 2035, according to the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035 proposed in 2021. It also noted that China will invest another $60 billion in Africa by 2035, especially in support of sectors including African agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, environmental protection and digital economy, among others.
The expo also offered a major platform to showcase African products to Chinese consumers while allowing more local suppliers and enterprises to come and pursue cooperation opportunities with the Chinese counterparts, Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University noted.
