As of 2021, exports from African countries to China accumulated to nearly *** billion U.S. dollars. The value declined compared to 2020 when exports from Africa to the Asian country amounted to roughly ** billion U.S. dollars. In the last two decades, trade with China, regarding exports from African countries, fluctuated but overall increased strongly. For instance, in 2000, African exports to China yielded only *** billion U.S. dollars.

Figure 3 depicts China-Africa trade from 2000 to 2013. It shows that China-Africa trade consistently grew since the formation of the FOCAC in 2000. As can be seen in the figure, the US trade with Africa declined after the 2008 global financial crisis, allowing China to take the lead as Africa's largest trading partner. Figure 7 shows trade between China and Africa from 2003 to 2021. Although with fluctuations, trade between the two sides has been increasing since the establishment of the FOCAC mechanism. It reached a first high of US$203 billion in 2015 and then declined significantly the following year. However, the trade increased again from 2017 and surged to US$254 billion in 2021, up by 35% from the previous year. The high trade volume in 2021 has been attributed to the additional Chinese exports of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), such as masks and hazmat suits, as well as pharmaceutical products and testing equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic to Africa. However, Gu et al (2022: 11) indicated that the strong increase in China-Africa trade volume in 2021 is remarkable as data from China's customs agency shows that it is "made up of an increase in both Chinese exports to Africa (29.9% year-on-year) and African exports to China (43.7% year-on-year)". Figure 4 shows the number of countries around the world that have joined China's Belt and Road Initiatiative (BRI). As can be seen in the figure, China's BRI has attracted more than 140 countries. In Africa, the first countries that signed up for the BRI project were East and North African countries such as Kenya, Djibouti, Tanzania and Egypt. In Figure 5, the map shows the number of African countries that have signed up for the BRI since 2015. As can be seen in the figure, 52 countries in Africa had signed some BRI-related Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China by 2022.

Table 1 shows that studies that analysed the China-Africa relationship focusing on their 'strategic partnership' are very few, given the voluminous literature on China and Africa. A search of Sino-Africa studies conducted in English with the term 'strategic partnership' in their titles produced only ten papers (see table). Furthermore, as the table shows, studies investigating the increased security cooperation in China-Africa relations conducted in English are rare, although this part of the debate has also produced numerous research publications. The column titled 'Focus of study' in Table 1 above shows that majority of these studies concentrated on analysing economic cooperation, while a few also included political relations between China and Africa. Also, the column titled 'Definition of strategic partnership' shows that, all these studies, except Akpan and Onya (2018), made no attempts to define the concept of strategic partnership. Figure 8 shows the countries around the world in which the United Nations (UN) has deployed its peacekeepers. As shown in the figure, the UN has deployed several peacekeeping missions around the world since the late 1940s, with most of these operations taking place in the African continent. Figure 9 focuses on the UN’s peacekeeping operations in Africa. As can be seen in the figure, Chinese peacekeeping troops were deployed in five out of the seven UN-led missions on the African continent as of 2019. Figure 12 shows the foreign military bases that currently exist in African countries. As the figure shows, the African Continent is a host to 47 known foreign military bases, of which 34 are United States (US) bases. Figure 13 shows the foreign military bases in Djibouti. As seen in the figure, Djibouti hosts the US' Camp Lemonnier military base, just 13.4 kilometres away from the Chinese PLA's new navy facility, along with military bases of other major powers such as France, Germany and Japan in close proximity. Djibouti thus found itself in the middle of diplomatic tensions between China and the US over fears of a Chinese takeover of the Doraleh Container Terminal, Djibouti's main container port, in 2018, as China financed the development of the port. Figure 6 shows China's Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) commitments from 2006 to 2021. As can be seen in the figure, China's financial pledges to assist Africa increased from US$5 billion to US$60 in 2015. However, they dropped to US$40 billion in 2021. Further, drops in the number of activities, such as official development assistance (ODAs) and capacity building, including reductions in security collaborations, were also noted. However, a new development was China's reallocation of US$10 billion of its Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) towards Africa from the US$40 billion that it received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As of 2023, exports from China into Africa accumulated to roughly *** billion U.S. dollars. The value increased from *** billion U.S. dollars in the previous year, reaching a new peak. Overall, Chinese trade with African countries has increased in the last two decades. In 2000, Africa imported items from the Asian country at **** billion U.S. dollars.

As of 2021, Nigeria and South Africa were the main importers from China in Africa. The two African countries imported from the Asian partner some **** billion and **** billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Chinese exports to Egypt followed closely, with a value of **** billion U.S. dollars. Overall, the trade between African countries and China has been increasing in the last two decades. In 2020, Chinese exports to Africa were valued at ****** billion U.S. dollars.

As of 2021, South Africa was the main African exporter to China in terms of value. South African exports to the Asian country amounted to around ** billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, Angola exports to China were valued at some **** billion U.S. dollars, while exports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached ** billion U.S. dollars.

China Export: Africa: Nigeria data was reported at 2.151 USD bn in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.092 USD bn for Feb 2025. China Export: Africa: Nigeria data is updated monthly, averaging 814.839 USD mn from Jan 2001 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 291 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.484 USD bn in Aug 2021 and a record low of 41.947 USD mn in Jan 2001. China Export: Africa: Nigeria data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JA: USD: Trade by Country.

The mining and quarrying industry is vital to the global economy, providing essential raw materials for many sectors. China is a major importer of African minerals, deepening trade ties with Africa and shaping the economic and political landscape of the two regions. This study examines the economic and institutional factors that affect Africa-China mining and quarrying trade flows from 2010 to 2021, using a trade gravity model with methods such as Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), Random Effects, ET-Tobit, EK-Tobit, Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) and Multinomial Poisson Maximum Likelihood (MPML. The results showed that the quality of institutions, especially the level of corruption, played a key role, with high levels of corruption associated with a reduction of up to 34.5% in exports in Africa and 51% in imports in China. Key economic factors, including GDP, the net barter trade index and Chinese FDI, have a positive impact on Africa's export capacity, while population size and GDP per capita show mixed effects on trade dynamics. The present study provides actionable policy recommendations for improving governance in the mining sector, strengthening trade partnerships and promoting sustainable development.

South Africa Imports from China of Oats was US$8 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Oats - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

Gansu: Import: Africa: Chad data was reported at 0.387 USD th in Oct 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.210 USD th for Sep 2021. Gansu: Import: Africa: Chad data is updated monthly, averaging 0.298 USD th from Sep 2021 (Median) to Oct 2021, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.387 USD th in Oct 2021 and a record low of 0.210 USD th in Sep 2021. Gansu: Import: Africa: Chad data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JBA: USD: Foreign Trade: Gansu.

South Africa Imports from China of Human hair, unworked and waste of human hair was US$319 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Human hair, unworked and waste of human hair - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

South Africa Exports of tin to China was US$8 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Exports of tin to China - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

China Import: Africa: Cape Verde data was reported at 0.000 USD mn in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.000 USD mn for Feb 2025. China Import: Africa: Cape Verde data is updated monthly, averaging 0.000 USD mn from Jan 2001 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 291 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.128 USD mn in May 2020 and a record low of 0.000 USD mn in Apr 2021. China Import: Africa: Cape Verde data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JA: USD: Trade by Country.

South Africa Imports from China of Bananas and plantains, fresh or dried was US$43 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Bananas and plantains, fresh or dried - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

Anhui: Import: Africa: Central African Republic data was reported at 2.498 USD th in Nov 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.273 USD th for Feb 2023. Anhui: Import: Africa: Central African Republic data is updated monthly, averaging 1.273 USD th from Jan 2021 (Median) to Nov 2024, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.498 USD th in Nov 2024 and a record low of 0.023 USD th in Jan 2021. Anhui: Import: Africa: Central African Republic data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JBA: USD: Foreign Trade: Anhui.

This statistic illustrates the export value of Chinese food products to South Africa between 2011 and 2021. In 2021, China's food exports to South Africa amounted to around *** million U.S. dollars, up from about *** million U.S. dollars in the previous year.

As of October 2021, the European Union (EU) was the main trade partner of Africa. Around ** percent of the total trade from and to the continent involved the European countries in that year. Moreover, ** percent of the trade involved China, while *** percent was from and to India.

Gansu: Import: Africa: Burkina Faso data was reported at 11,289.838 USD th in Feb 2021. Gansu: Import: Africa: Burkina Faso data is updated monthly, averaging 11,289.838 USD th from Feb 2021 (Median) to Feb 2021, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11,289.838 USD th in Feb 2021 and a record low of 11,289.838 USD th in Feb 2021. Gansu: Import: Africa: Burkina Faso data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JBA: USD: Foreign Trade: Gansu.

China Imports from South Africa of Starches, inulin was US$90 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Imports from South Africa of Starches, inulin - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

China Imports from South Africa of Articles of Natural Cork was US$21 during 2021, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Imports from South Africa of Articles of Natural Cork - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on November of 2025.

China Import: Year to Date: Africa: Other data was reported at 0.004 RMB mn in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.004 RMB mn for Feb 2025. China Import: Year to Date: Africa: Other data is updated monthly, averaging 0.169 RMB mn from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 130 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29.730 RMB mn in Dec 2023 and a record low of 0.001 RMB mn in Jan 2021. China Import: Year to Date: Africa: Other data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Administration of Customs. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s International Trade – Table CN.JA: RMB: Trade by Country: ytd.