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Observers say China’s zero-tariff policy will further dismantle trade barriers, deepen China-Africa cooperation, and generate lasting benefits for the people of China and Africa, opening up new avenues to jointly carry out modernization.
In the rolling, lush fields of Ibiza village in Kayonza district in eastern Rwanda, farmers are busy growing red chili peppers. Growing demand from the Chinese market will likely keep them even busier, thus bringing in higher incomes.
For hundreds of farmers in Kayonza, the expansion of chilli exports to China is opening a viable route out of poverty, thanks to China’s zero-tariff policy and strong market demand. What started as a small farm quickly evolved into a life-changing opportunity for farmers, workers and exporters across the continent.
Starting May 1, China’s zero-tariff policy will come into effect for 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in a congratulatory message at the 39th African Union Summit on February 14.
Observers say the policy will further dismantle trade barriers, deepen China-Africa cooperation and generate lasting benefits for the people of China and Africa, opening new avenues to jointly advance modernization.
ZERO FEES, BIG PROFITS
In Rwanda, many local companies are trying to take advantage of the zero tariff policy to gain better access to the Chinese market and, by extension, the global market. Fisher Global, a Rwandan agricultural company that began exporting dried chili peppers to China in 2022, now aims to turn chili peppers into an important cash crop for rural communities.
“At first we only had about 15 hectares of chili cultivation, but now we have expanded to 300 hectares,” Herman Uwizeyimana, general manager of Fisher Global, told Xinhua.
According to Uwizeyimana, the company now has 31 permanent employees and up to 600 casual workers, creating much-needed jobs and boosting local incomes.
“Exporting to China has been a great opportunity for us. With the memorandum of understanding between Rwanda and China for the export of dried chilli, it has really opened doors,” he said. “Having access to such a large and stable market has allowed us to continue to improve both the quantity and size of our planting area.”
Fisher Global’s chilli exports to China have grown rapidly: from just one container in 2022 to around 10 containers in 2023. The company now exports around 300 tonnes of dried chilli per year and aims to exceed 1,000 tonnes in the next few years.
Profound changes are becoming visible among farmers as their incomes increase thanks to chilli cultivation. For 28-year-old farmer Emmanuel Bihoyiki, his income has more than tripled. With his increased earnings he was able to purchase land for himself and his parents.
“Chilli farming was the first business opportunity I found that brought significant income, not only to me but also to my fellow villagers, improving our livelihoods,” he said.
In recent years, China has expanded market access for African goods by ensuring zero-tariff processing and improving “green channels” for customs clearance, while actively supporting the participation of African companies in major trade events such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the China International Supply Chain Expo.
These measures have helped connect typical African products with global markets. In 2025, Sino-Africa trade grew 17.7% year-on-year to $348 billion, while Africa’s exports to China exceeded $123 billion.
China’s zero-tariff policy “provides an opportunity for market diversification,” said Cobus van Staden, a senior research fellow at the South African Institute for International Affairs.
The policy is expected to facilitate the entry of African exporters into the Chinese market, he said, adding that it “will help exporters diversify their markets and hopefully gain access to a large group of new customers” and “could help African industrialisation”.
FACILITATING THE MODERNIZATION OF AFRICA
China’s zero-tariff treatment of African countries also builds on 10 partnership actions launched at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in September 2024. China has consistently acted as a true friend in Africa’s path to modernization.
In Niassa province in northern Mozambique, a new graphite processing plant built and financed by China’s Jinan Yuxiao group is expected to deliver an annual output of 200,000 tonnes. Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said the project will help his country abandon a single development model based on raw material exports and promote exports with higher added value.
Agricultural cooperation between China and Mozambique is deepening. In Gaza province, local agriculture and farmers have benefited from a partnership with the Wanbao rice plantation, supported by the China-Africa Development Fund. Yields increase from 1-2 tonnes to 5-7 tonnes per hectare and land use efficiency is approximately ten times higher.
The Chinese expert team has been instrumental in pushing forward this cooperation. With their technical support, a dedicated seed laboratory was created for seed quality assessment.
“When seed quality improves, production naturally increases,” said agronomist Germano Manuel of the Mozambique Agricultural Research Institute, expecting to see national use of related technologies to increase the country’s overall agricultural capacity.
Mozambique boasts vast land resources and immense potential for agricultural cooperation with China. He is willing to find more agricultural products besides rice for cooperation, and seek more projects such as the Wanbao farm, Chapo told Xinhua in an interview ahead of his state visit to China from April 16 to 22.
Mozambique will take advantage of China’s zero tariff treatment to particularly push the export of its agricultural products, he said.
Chapo said he hopes to strengthen strategic cooperation with China in the fields of agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, industrialization and digitalization within the framework of South-South cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.
CLOSER SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
Against the backdrop of rising global trade protectionism, China’s initiative to work together to build an open and inclusive world economy has won broad support.
“What we need is to remove barriers rather than erect walls, (and) open rather than close. We should carry out broad consultations and make joint contributions for shared benefits, reject the winner-takes-all approach, and build an open world economy in which developing countries are better involved in the international division of labor and share the fruits of economic globalization,” Xi said in August 2023 at the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Chinese president called on China and Africa to “work together to create a healthy environment that cheers our respective development visions.”
The zero-tariff treatment for Africa reaffirms China’s commitment to building an open world economy, promoting shared development across the Global South through practical cooperation and injecting stability into the global trading system and economic growth.
During the 39th African Union Summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded China’s move, calling for similar measures from developed countries. “We have seen multiple tariff occasions in recent times,” he noted.
African Union Commission Chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said China’s “very timely” treatment of zero tariffs is particularly vital as Africa bears the brunt of global uncertainties, which hit African economies with structural vulnerabilities hardest.
“We also see isolationist policies around the world, while protectionism is growing,” he added.
“The system of global economic governance that has been with us for some eighty years is under considerable pressure,” said Melaku Geboye, coordinator of the African Trade Policy Center at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
At such a critical moment, he said, China’s continued commitment to opening up is “timely and significant” for Africa, in addition to the “enduring and growing importance of the China-Africa partnership and its promise of mutually beneficial development and assured prosperity.”
For Fisher Global and many other African companies, the Chinese market has become central to their future growth plans. At trade shows in Shanghai and Changsha, the company’s chili products highlighted Rwanda’s organic, pesticide-free produce and attracted strong interest from Chinese buyers looking to source overseas.
“China is the number one chilli market in the world, so it’s very important to us,” Uwizeyimana said. “We hope for increasingly strong exports to China.”
China’s initiative marks a structural change in bilateral ties and will further strengthen South-South cooperation, said Afonso Gomes, a Guinea-Bissau economic analyst.
“China understood very early that the future of the world economy requires multilateralism. The decision… confirms its strong medium- and long-term strategic vision,” Gomes said. Xinhua
