Business leaders to explore further cooperation

Nearly 800 Chinese and African business leaders will convene in Beijing on Friday to explore innovative pathways for enhancing China-Africa industrial cooperation, China's top foreign trade and investment promotion agency said on Tuesday.

As a part of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the 8th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs aims to pave the way for African countries to accelerate their integration into global industrial and supply chains, said Zhang Shaogang, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Zhang said that over 400 business representatives from more than 40 African countries will attend the conference. The participating companies span traditional industries such as energy, mining, infrastructure and trade, and emerging sectors like electronics and communication satellites.

Chinese and African entrepreneurs can leverage the platform to strengthen communication and collaboration, and work together to discover new opportunities to advance China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, said Sun Xiao, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce in Beijing.

By the end of last year, China's direct investment in Africa had exceeded $40 billion, making it one of the largest sources of foreign investment on the continent. Over the past three years, Chinese companies have created more than 1.1 million jobs in Africa, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Over 1,000 Chinese businesses have invested in economic and trade cooperation zones in Africa, spanning sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and logistics. The zones have significantly contributed to local tax revenues, export growth and foreign exchange earnings.

In an article published in People's Daily on Tuesday, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China supports and encourages Chinese and African companies to create industrial development clusters, forming a virtuous cycle of trade and investment promotion.

"We will continue to heighten China-Africa connectivity, facilitate the smooth circulation of resources and elements and ensure that the benefits of development are better shared by the peoples of both sides," Wang said.

China has long been committed to deepening economic and trade cooperation with Africa, and the industrial ties between China and Africa have become increasingly close, said Lyu Daliang, director of the General Administration of Customs' department of statistics and analysis.

China has continued to deepen trade cooperation with African countries in recent years, with a rapid increase in the scale of both imports and exports, he said.

From 2000 to 2023, trade between China and Africa expanded from less than 100 billion yuan ($14.05 billion) to 1.98 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 17.2 percent, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

After seeing its exports to Africa jump 73.5 percent to 310 million yuan in the first seven months of this year, Jiuwei Tools (Suzhou), a power tool manufacturer based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, plans to cultivate sales agents in key markets including South Africa, Nigeria and Benin.

"Driven by rapid industrial development, the demand for power tools in the African market has been steadily increasing in recent years," said Qin Lan, a manager at the company's overseas business unit.