China’s Ministry of Finance has announced that the country will implement zero tariffs on imports from all 53 African nations with which it maintains diplomatic relations, effective May 1, 2026.
The policy was first announced by President Xi Jinping in a congratulatory message to the 39th African Union Summit on February 14, 2026, in which he declared that China would fully implement zero tariffs for all 53 diplomatically recognized African countries while continuing to pursue the signing of Joint Development Economic Partnership Agreements.
To put the measure into effect, China’s State Council Tariff Commission issued a formal notice specifying that from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2028, zero tariffs will be extended to 20 African countries that have diplomatic ties with China but do not currently qualify as least-developed nations. These countries will receive the preferential rates in the form of a special tariff reduction. However, for products subject to tariff-rate quotas, only the within-quota rates will be reduced to zero, while rates on above-quota imports will remain unchanged. During this two-year implementation period, China said it will continue to push forward negotiations on Joint Development Economic Partnership Agreements with the relevant African countries.
The State Council Tariff Commission described the sweeping measure as a concrete step in China’s commitment to expanding high-level openness and broadening autonomous liberalization. Officials also framed it as a key initiative to deliver on the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and to strengthen what Beijing calls an “all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future.” The commission expressed confidence that the policy would inject significant momentum into China-Africa trade, investment cooperation, and broader African economic development.
Source: Sputnik News, April 29, 2026
https://sputniknews.cn/20260429/1071020254.html