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).

China Export: Africa: Egypt data was reported at 1.338 USD bn in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.125 USD bn for Feb 2025. China Export: Africa: Egypt data is updated monthly, averaging 684.164 USD mn from Jan 2001 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 291 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.255 USD bn in Jan 2022 and a record low of 44.126 USD mn in Jan 2001. China Export: Africa: Egypt 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.

China Imports from South Africa of Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories was US$164 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Imports from South Africa of Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

China Exports of matches to South Africa was US$799 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of matches to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Imports from South Africa of Articles of tin, not specified elsewhere was US$2.82 Thousand during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Imports from South Africa of Articles of tin, not specified elsewhere - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

China Exports of slate to South Africa was US$18 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of slate to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Export: Africa: Congo, DR data was reported at 315.643 USD mn in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 257.194 USD mn for Feb 2025. China Export: Africa: Congo, DR data is updated monthly, averaging 72.572 USD mn from Jan 2001 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 291 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 549.149 USD mn in Aug 2022 and a record low of 0.383 USD mn in Feb 2001. China Export: Africa: Congo, DR 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 Cocoa butter, fat and oil was US$4.96 Thousand during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Cocoa butter, fat and oil - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Exports of tin, unwrought to South Africa was US$304 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of tin, unwrought to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Exports of mechanical woodpulp to South Africa was US$26.92 Thousand during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of mechanical woodpulp to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Exports of articles of natural cork to South Africa was US$157 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of articles of natural cork to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

Yunnan: Import: Africa: Botswana data was reported at 6,782.558 USD th in Jan 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 4,912.614 USD th for Dec 2022. Yunnan: Import: Africa: Botswana data is updated monthly, averaging 6,782.558 USD th from Jan 2022 (Median) to Jan 2023, with 11 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 50,133.214 USD th in Apr 2022 and a record low of 1,480.672 USD th in Jul 2022. Yunnan: Import: Africa: Botswana 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: Yunnan.

China Exports of precious metal ores and concentrates to South Africa was US$25 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of precious metal ores and concentrates to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Export: Africa: Somalia data was reported at 80.225 USD mn in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 43.055 USD mn for Feb 2025. China Export: Africa: Somalia data is updated monthly, averaging 10.705 USD mn from Jan 2001 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 291 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 111.312 USD mn in Jan 2022 and a record low of 0.000 USD mn in Sep 2002. China Export: Africa: Somalia 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 Milk and cream, concentrated or sweetened was US$73 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Milk and cream, concentrated or sweetened - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

South Africa Imports from China of Nickel Ores and Concentrates was US$10 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Nickel Ores and Concentrates - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

China Exports of copper ores and concentrates to South Africa was US$1 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. China Exports of copper ores and concentrates to South Africa - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

South Africa Exports of agglomerated cork to China was US$443 during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Exports of agglomerated cork to China - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

Sichuan: Import: Africa: Others data was reported at 0.228 USD th in Nov 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.118 USD th for May 2022. Sichuan: Import: Africa: Others data is updated monthly, averaging 0.118 USD th from Apr 2022 (Median) to Nov 2022, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.228 USD th in Nov 2022 and a record low of 0.050 USD th in Apr 2022. Sichuan: Import: Africa: Others 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: Sichuan.

South Africa Imports from China of Propellent Powders was US$3.19 Thousand during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. South Africa Imports from China of Propellent Powders - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.