Q&A: Seven Questions on China-Africa Relations

• Author: Luiz Almeida - Wenjie Chen - Oral Williams
• Pages: 8-10

IMF Research Bulletin

8 8

Seven Questions on China-Africa Relations

By Luiz Almeida, Wenjie Chen, and Oral Williams

China has emerged a s Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) major

trading partner and as an impor tant lender in recent years.

Sub-Saharan Africa enjoy ed a trade surplus with Chin a for

more than a decade, but this h as now turned to a def icit with

the slump in commodity prices. Ch ina’s engagement with SSA

goes beyond a narrative of natural resources an d includes

wider cooperation to addre ss bottlenecks in SSA’s develop-

ment. Despite uncer tainties in the external environment

China has pledged US$60 bil lion over the next three years to

support SSA’s development.

Question 1.How important is China’s trade with

Sub-Saharan Africa?

China has emerged as Sub-Sa haran Africa’s (SSA) single larg-

est trading pa rtner, following China’s rapid growth in recent

years. Twenty years ago, advanced economies accounted for

about 90 percent of SSA exports. Since t hen there has been a

shi in trad ing patterns with Brazil, Ind ia, and China now

accounting for over half of SSA expor ts. China accounts for

the lion’s share of SSA exports at about 25 percent. Fuel, metal,

and mineral products represent 70 percent of SSA’s exports to

China. Over the pa st decade, SSA enjoyed a trade surplus with

China, only briey inter rupted during the global nanci al

crisis in 2009, but thi s has turned to a decit since 2015 owing

largely to the slump in commodit y prices. On the import side,

the majority of SSA imports f rom China comprise manufac-

tured goods and machi nery.

Q&A

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China

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Sub-Saharan Africa: Total Exports by Partner

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Figure 1. China’s Exports and Imports to Sub-Saharan Africa

(Billions of U.S. dollars, 6 month moving average)

China

Advanced Economies

India

Brazil

Sub-Saharan Africa

Others

Sub-Saharan Africa: Total Imports by Partner

(Billions of U.S. dollars)

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