China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for the last 14 years. The Chinese have been both importing African natural resources and investing in huge infrastructure projects as part of the Belt and Road investment program (BRI) thus strengthening China's ties to Africa.
But lately the focus of African-Chinese trade relations has shifted to agriculture. The volume of trade in agricultural products between China and Africa has significantly increased. In just two months of 2023, Shanghai ports reportedly handled more than 40,000 tons of African food products worth more than $100 million. In this post we have a closer look at the change of focus, discuss its reasons and benefits for Africa.