The Zhejiang province in China plans to raise its trade volume with Africa to $40 billion by the end of 2022 to account for at least 20 per cent of the total Sino-Africa trade. The plan promises to increase investments in Africa’s textiles, garments, chemicals, equipment manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries to meet the continent’s development needs. The province’s commerce department issued an action plan on the details recently as China’s first provincial-level plan on economic cooperation with African nations. Zhejiang hosts many of the country’s most successful private businesses.

The 40-billion-dollar target will mark a significant rise from the 30.1-billion-dollar trade between Africa and the province in 2018, according to a news agency report. The province, however, will bar investments that are polluting and highly energy-consuming from going to Africa, said the plan, which also calls for more agricultural investments and cooperation. The province would expand goods imports from Africa, especially in the non-resources category, according to document. China’s foreign trade with Africa reached $204.19 billion in 2018, up 19.7 per cent year-on-year and 7.1 percentage points higher than the growth of China’s overall foreign trade during the same period, according to China Customs. Specifically, the country’s exports to Africa rose 10.8 per cent to $104.91 billion in 2018, while its imports from Africa surged 30.8 per cent to reach $99.28 billion.

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