CHANGSHA December 27th (XINHUA) – – An economic and trade delegation set up by the provincial commerce department of central China’s Hunan Province (center) left on December 10 for three African countries, namely Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar.
The visits, conducted from December 10 to 21, aimed to deepen Hunan’s economic and trade cooperation and exchanges with Africa, to promote the 3rd edition of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and to invite African countries to actively participate in that exhibition scheduled for Changsha, Hunan, next June.
It is indeed a microcosm of active economic and trade cooperation between Chinese local authorities and Africa. In recent years, many provinces, including Hunan, have embarked on more open trade with Africa, giving new impetus to building the China-Africa shared future community in the new era.
According to Zhang Xiaohu, deputy director of the China-Africa Economics, Trade and Law Research Institute of Xiangtan University, the active expansion of China-Africa trade locally stems from national policies and the pressing need of the provinces to open up foreign markets.
Hunan is home to the Pilot Zone for China-Africa Deep Economic and Trade Cooperation. From January to November this year, the volume of imports and exports between the province and Africa amounted to 50.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45.5 percent.
“In a few years, Hunan has become one of the most active Chinese provinces in terms of economic and trade cooperation with Africa,” said Zhu Guangyao, director of Changsha customs, adding that the province has 2,498 foreign trade enterprises to Africa.
The promotion of economic and trade cooperation with Africa cannot be done without the fluidity of logistics channels. In July this year, Hunan opened its first international cargo air route to Africa, connecting Addis Ababa to Changsha. Fifty-six flights were carried out, shipping a total of 4,028.7 tons of cargo.
Since its official launch on September 15, 2021, the rail-sea intermodal transport service between Hunan, Guangdong (South China) and Africa has become an important logistics route to Africa for the center and western China, or even for the whole country, reducing the total journey time by 9 to 10 days compared to the traditional river and sea route.
The rapid growth of trade between China and Africa has made Chinese companies more optimistic about the African market.
At the 2022 China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum (Zhejiang), which opened on November 21, the eastern province of Zhejiang signed 26 economic and trade cooperation projects with Africa, worth a total of 57.978 billion yuan. A large number of Zhejiang enterprises, such as Alibaba, have successfully entered Africa.
Over the past decade, trade between Guangdong and Africa has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 30%. Many companies in that southern province, active in consumer goods, agriculture, electricity, infrastructure and other sectors, have played an important role in local economic development.
Local-level exploration of economic and trade cooperation with Africa will be conducive to expanding and optimizing China-Africa trade cooperation mechanisms and business models, which will allow to achieve win-win mutual benefits for China and Africa, says Zhang Xiaohu.