Communication | Bilateral Pursuit for Mutual Benefit and Win win - China Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Continues to Heat up

Changsha/Nairobi, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China Africa economic and trade cooperation continues to heat up, with mutual benefit and win-win cooperation in both directions

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhou Haojin, Wang Yue, Liu Fangzhou

The airfare to Africa is really in high demand, full of opportunities there! "Ma Bijun, Deputy General Manager of Hunan Erkang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., was busy preparing to open a pharmaceutical factory in Tanzania within the year. He often shuttles between Central Africa and is often amazed by the large passenger flow of flights. In his view, the high demand for flight tickets and huge passenger flow is a true reflection of the increasing heat of China Africa economic and trade exchanges.

According to statistics, the Guangzhou Changsha Nairobi route of China Southern Airlines has carried a total of 227000 passengers since its launch in 2019, and currently maintains a stable operation of 3 flights per week. To meet the passenger demand during the peak tourist season, China Southern Airlines plans to add direct flights from Nairobi to Guangzhou in the upcoming summer.

The momentum of bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa is strong, and the fields are constantly expanding. In just 3 days, Kenyan coffee beans can be transported on a direct flight to Changsha, bringing their unique flavor to the African Coffee Trading Center in Gaoqiao Market, Hunan. As an old friend in the field of agricultural products, the pace of African coffee products coming to China has accelerated. In the first quarter of this year, China's imports of coffee from Africa increased by 70.4% year-on-year.

At the same time, at the African Coffee Trading Center in Gaoqiao Market, Changsha City, a coffee shop operated by Xiaokazhu Coffee Co., Ltd. carefully crafted over 30 types of beverages from coffee beans from multiple African countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya.

"Now, we communicate directly with African coffee plantation owners through the online trading platform to simplify the trading process and reduce comprehensive costs." Jing Jianhua, the head of Little Master Coffee Co., Ltd., said that the coffee market has been very good in recent years. Last year, the company imported 30% more raw coffee beans from Africa.

In addition to "old friends", there are also "new faces", and a touch of green has transformed China Africa economic and trade exchanges towards a new direction. As Africa continues to promote green transformation, China's exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products to Africa will increase significantly by 291%, 109%, and 57% year-on-year in 2023.

Last year, Surahat from Senegal established a new energy ride hailing company in Dakar. Seeing new energy vehicles running on the streets of China, I also look forward to seeing similar scenes in my country. He believes that introducing new energy vehicles can not only provide employment opportunities and reduce operating costs, but also be more environmentally friendly.

Surahat has been living and doing business in Yiwu for over 20 years. Since his first purchase of hardware products in Yiwu, he has discovered the cost-effective "Made in China" and witnessed the increasingly frequent economic and trade exchanges between China and Africa.

Walking into the exhibition hall of Surahat's non African trading company in Yiwu, African merchants are in a constant stream. The booth displays hundreds or thousands of products, including new energy products such as solar photovoltaic panels and solar street lights, as well as hardware, daily necessities, household appliances, etc. At the beginning of the year, twenty or thirty containers were sent to Africa, and now over 4000 have been shipped. Surahat is confident in the future development, and "this number will continue to grow".

The 'new trend' of China's e-commerce model is also blowing towards the African continent. As a blue ocean of e-commerce economy, the African market has shown tremendous vitality and potential. Online live streaming has attracted a lot of customers for us, and I can understand their various needs in real time, "said Nancy Kariwuki, an anchor at Kilimall, a leading e-commerce platform in East Africa. She told reporters that the daily natural traffic of live streaming exceeds 10000 people, which is quite considerable in the local area.

Kariuki showcased Kilimall's homepage to reporters, offering a wide range of products from 3C digital products to shoes, hats, and clothing, making it a dazzling sight. E-commerce has not only changed the traditional way of consumption, but also brought job opportunities for local people. It is reported that since entering Africa in 2014, the platform has developed with over 10 million registered users online. While promoting the Chinese e-commerce model, the platform also strives to achieve localized operations, creating tens of thousands of job opportunities for Africa.

In addition, Chinese e-commerce companies such as Alibaba, Xiyin, and Pinduoduo have also laid out in the African market, building "digital bridges" connecting China and Africa.

From time to time, China Africa economic and trade cooperation continues to heat up, and the trade cake is getting bigger and bigger. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China in early June, China's imports and exports to African countries reached a record high of 963.21 billion yuan in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. Looking towards the future, China Africa economic and trade exchanges will continue to release new vitality, allowing the people of both sides to share the dividends of development.