Report on China-Africa Trade Policy and its Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

This report analyzes the strategic shift in China’s trade policy towards Africa, focusing on the implementation of a zero-tariff regime announced in July 2025. It assesses the policy’s direct contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by fostering economic growth, reducing poverty and inequality, and promoting robust international partnerships. The initiative marks a significant step in South-South cooperation, aiming to integrate African economies more equitably into the global trade system.

Policy Overview and Strategic Context

The Zero-Tariff Initiative

On July 14, 2025, the General Administration of Customs of China announced a new policy granting zero-tariff treatment to all taxable goods from African nations that maintain diplomatic relations with China. This development builds upon a period of significant trade growth, which reached a record $134 billion in the first five months of 2025, a 12.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Alignment with SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The policy is a practical application of multilateralism and strengthens South-South cooperation, directly supporting SDG 17. Key aspects include:

• Countering global trends of protectionism and unilateralism.
• Reaffirming the principle that international trade should serve development.
• Fostering a partnership model based on mutual benefit and respect for sovereignty, in contrast to approaches with political or ideological conditions.
• Complementing the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Impact on Sustainable Development Goals in Africa

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth & SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

The zero-tariff policy is designed to catalyze industrialization and sustainable economic growth in Africa. It moves beyond a focus on raw material extraction to promote higher value-added production.

1. Industrialization and Structural Transformation: The policy encourages investment in light manufacturing, minerals, and agriculture, helping African economies diversify and upgrade their value chains.
2. Infrastructure Investment: China’s commitment is complemented by investments in essential infrastructure, including special economic zones, industrial parks, and logistics corridors, which are foundational for achieving SDG 9.
3. Job Creation: Projects linked to Chinese investment are creating significant employment opportunities. For example, Huajian’s operations in Ethiopia have created over 12,000 jobs, with plans for up to 50,000 more. Similar partnerships are reviving sectors like textiles and ceramics in Nigeria.

SDG 1: No Poverty & SDG 2: Zero Hunger

The policy directly addresses poverty and food security by enhancing the agricultural sector’s profitability and market access.

• Enhanced Market Access: African agricultural products, such as Ghanaian cocoa, Ethiopian coffee, and Kenyan avocados, can now enter the 1.4 billion-person Chinese consumer market duty-free, increasing income for producers.
• Empowerment of Smallholders: By connecting African smallholders and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and JD.com, the policy creates new distribution channels and reduces dependency on intermediaries.
• Investment in Agro-Processing: Supporting investments in agro-processing centers helps increase the value of agricultural exports and reduces post-harvest losses, contributing to SDG 2.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

A core objective of the initiative is to rectify Africa’s marginal position in the global economy and promote a more inclusive trade order.

• Addressing Trade Imbalances: The policy directly confronts the tariff and non-tariff barriers that have limited Africa’s share of global trade to less than 3%, despite it being home to over 17% of the world’s population.
• Promoting Economic Sovereignty: By supporting industrial capacity and skills transfer, the policy aims to ensure African nations can achieve self-sustaining economic development and reduce external dependencies.
• Amplifying the Global South: The initiative is a concrete action that lowers barriers and restores economic voice and agency to developing nations, embodying the principles of SDG 10.

Conclusion

China’s zero-tariff policy for African goods represents a significant and practical contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By integrating trade with investments in infrastructure and industrial capacity, the initiative provides a comprehensive framework for fostering economic growth (SDG 8), reducing poverty (SDG 1), and building equitable partnerships (SDG 17). This approach serves as a model for development-oriented cooperation that supports the shared prosperity and economic sovereignty of nations in the Global South.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: The article directly addresses this goal by discussing how China’s trade policies and investments are creating jobs in Africa, promoting economic diversification, and aiming for higher value-added production. The mention of Huajian’s manufacturing operations creating over 12,000 jobs in Ethiopia is a prime example.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: This goal is central to the article’s theme of moving Africa beyond raw material exports. It highlights China’s investments in “special economic zones, industrial parks, logistics corridors and agro-processing centers,” which are fundamental for building resilient infrastructure and fostering industrialization.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: The article’s core subject, China’s zero-tariff policy for African nations, is a direct measure to reduce trade inequalities. By removing tariff barriers, the policy aims to improve the competitiveness of African exports and create a more inclusive economic order, addressing the disparity where Africa contributes less than 3% to global trade despite having 17% of the world’s population.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The entire article is a case study for SDG 17. It describes the deepening China-Africa partnership, emphasizing “South-South cooperation,” “mutual benefit,” and “shared modernization.” The zero-tariff policy is presented as a concrete action of this partnership to achieve sustainable development and counter global protectionism.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation. The article supports this by mentioning the goal to “encourage diversification of trade” and “upgrade value chains” in sectors like agriculture, minerals, and light manufacturing, moving beyond raw material exports.
• Target 9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization. The article explicitly states that China’s policy is “aimed at promoting industrialization, skills transfer, and higher value-added production in African countries.” The revival of sectors like textiles and ceramics in Nigeria is given as an example.
• Target 9.a: Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries. The article details this through China’s simultaneous investments in “special economic zones, industrial parks, logistics corridors and agro-processing centers across the continent.”
• Target 10.a: Implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least developed countries. The announcement that “all taxable goods from African countries that have diplomatic relations with China will enjoy zero-tariff treatment” is a direct implementation of this target, providing preferential market access.
• Target 17.11: Significantly increase the exports of developing countries. The policy’s intent is to boost African exports by granting duty-free access to the Chinese market of 1.4 billion people, thereby increasing Africa’s share of global trade from its current low of less than 3%.
• Target 17.12: Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries. The article’s central news, the implementation of a “zero-tariff regime,” is a direct fulfillment of this target for African nations.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Trade Volume and Growth Rate: The article provides a specific indicator of trade progress: “Sino-African trade reached a record $134 billion in the first five months of 2025, up 12.4 percent year-on-year.” This directly measures the scale and growth of the economic partnership.
• Tariff Levels: The primary indicator for market access is the policy itself: the implementation of a “zero-tariff regime.” This is a binary indicator (tariffs are either zero or not) that measures the fulfillment of Target 17.12.
• Job Creation Figures: The article provides concrete numbers that serve as indicators for decent work and economic growth. For example, “Huajian’s manufacturing operations have created more than 12,000 jobs since 2011,” with a projection that a new project “is expected to generate up to 50,000 more jobs.”
• Infrastructure and Industrial Projects: The existence and development of “special economic zones, industrial parks, logistics corridors and agro-processing centers” serve as qualitative and quantitative indicators of progress toward industrialization and infrastructure development (Target 9.a and 9.2).
• Share of Global Trade: The article mentions that Africa “contributes less than 3 percent to global trade value.” This figure serves as a baseline indicator, with the implied goal being to increase this percentage as a measure of success.
• Export Product Diversification: The mention of specific goods like “Ghanaian cocoa, Ethiopian coffee, Kenyan avocados and Zambian copper” entering the Chinese market duty-free serves as an indicator of trade diversification away from a narrow range of raw materials.

4. Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: chinadaily.com.cn