Editor's note: Shao Xia is a special commentator on international affairs for CGTN. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Some Western media outlets often hype the "trade imbalance" between China and Africa and smear China's engagement with the continent as "economic colonialism," in an attempt to drive a wedge between China and African countries. But such a narrative ignores the actual structure of China-Africa trade and collapses under the scrutiny of facts and data.

In terms of overall volume, China-Africa trade reached $203.5 billion in the first half of 2026, up 24% year on year, setting a record high for the same period. Bilateral trade first exceeded $200 billion in 2014 and surpassed $300 billion in 2025. Should it cross $400 billion this year, China-Africa trade will have taken just one year to climb from $300 billion to $400 billion, compared with the 11 years it took to rise from $200 billion to $300 billion, a clear signal of the accelerating momentum.

On the import side, China's imports from Africa have grown for 10 consecutive months. In May and June 2026, after China began granting zero-tariff treatment to all African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, imports from Africa totaled $28.5 billion, up 30.8% year on year. Imports of aquatic products, textile materials and specialty fruits all recorded double-digit growth. It is estimated that the policy has boosted the value of Africa's overall exports to China by about 6%.

The trade structure is equally revealing. In 2025, China exported $225 billion in goods to Africa. Intermediate goods accounted for $101.4 billion, or 45%; capital goods totaled $68 billion, or 30%; and consumer goods stood at $55.7 billion, or 25%.  

In the first half of this year, China exported $79 billion worth of mechanical and electrical products to Africa, up 28.8% and accounting for 60% of the total exports. The technological and value-added content of these exports continues to rise.

Now Africa is at a crucial stage of building and strengthening industrial chains and integrating into global production networks. Infrastructure, manufacturing and the energy transition are advancing together. As demand for production materials grows, imports from China naturally increase.

Intermediate and capital goods imported from China are processed into finished products in Africa. Some are consumed locally, contributing to African economic growth while others are exported. Transsion's production base in Ethiopia, for example, manufactures millions of mobile phones annually for the local market using display modules, chips and other advanced components imported from China. Hisense's South African plant, with an annual capacity of 1 million home appliances, exports its products to more than 10 countries in Africa and Europe.

Morocco, a major North African garment exporter, provides another example. In 2025, it imported $1.5 billion worth of knitted fabrics and synthetic textile materials from China, yet exported around $4.3 billion in garments, creating a substantial trade surplus in the garment sector. Chinese textile materials have supported the growth and upgrading of Morocco's clothing industry, created jobs and helped the country maintain its position as Africa's leading garment exporter to the European Union.

China's exports to Africa are therefore mainly productive inputs rather than consumer goods. They are driven by Africa's industrialization needs, and are instrumental in advancing Africa's modernization and in integrating African economies into global markets. In doing so, China is helping Africa both meet immediate needs and build long-term productive capacity, which differs fundamentally from Western colonial practices that depressed African raw-material prices, sold manufactured goods to Africa at inflated prices and extracted surpluses from the continent.

Some Western media outlets repeatedly point an accusing finger at China's trade surplus with Africa. Yet trade surpluses have complex causes and must be assessed not only through headline figures but also through their underlying structure. A surplus cannot simply be equated with unfairness or imbalance. Many countries run trade surpluses with the United States, while the US effectively exports dollars in exchange for high-quality goods produced elsewhere, reaping the fruits of others' labor at low cost. This is a more fundamental source of imbalance in the international trading system.

The Western obsession with hyping "trade imbalance" also serves to justify its protectionism. While some countries impose sweeping tariffs on African economies in the name of correcting alleged imbalances, China has taken the lead in granting zero-tariff treatment to African countries. The world can see clearly who is standing on the side of openness, fairness and shared development. History will render its verdict.

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