A lot of the goods coming from Angola, DR Congo, Gambia, Mali, Madagascar and Mauritania will no longer have tax imposed on them when entering the Chinese market.
China is the largest consumer of cobalt from DR Congo. On the other hand, a booming cafe culture among the Chinese youth is boosting the sales of coffee.
China’s new guidelines, which comes into effect on Christmas Day, is coming after it was heavily criticised about focusing on purchasing mostly raw materials from the continent.
This new policy is being praised by China’s Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council as proof of “the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation” leading to “a high-quality China-Africa community with a shared future.”
Presently, over 20 other African nations have tariff-free deals with China.
Beijing granted to above named six African countries 0 tariff treatment on 98% of products coming into the massive Chinese market. This policy will join dozens of others granted tariff relief as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to increase agricultural imports from the continent.
The African nations are some of the most resource-rich countries on the continent – particularly the DR Congo, the source of over 60 per cent of China’s cobalt imports, and Angola, a key exporter of petroleum and diamonds.
