More than 50 companies and organizations from China and Africa participated in a trade exhibition that opened in Beijing on July 12 as part of the General Meeting of Shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank, commonly known as Afreximbank.
The participants come from a wide range of businesses, including agriculture, manufacturing, energy development, infrastructure construction and financial services. More than 20 of them are from Africa.
The three-day exhibition aims to serve as “an important platform for government departments and companies engaged in China-Africa cooperation to exchange views with each other and explore new opportunities for business cooperation”, said Chu Xinqiang, vice-president of China Eximbank, a major shareholder of Afreximbank.
China is now Africa’s largest trading partner. The trade volume between the two economies totaled $166.3 billion in 2011, which is nearly 16 times the total in 2000.
Over the past decade, annual bilateral trade continued to increase at an average rate of more than 30 percent.
Also, China’s investment in Africa has been “growing sharply, with expanding business sectors and flexible and diversified approaches”, said Xu Hubin, secretary-general of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
By the end of 2010, China had invested a total of around $40 billion in Africa, including $13 billion in direct investment. And in 2011, China’s investment in Africa’s non-financial sectors amounted to $1.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of nearly 60 percent.
“With competitive prices and high quality, Chinese goods are welcomed in the African market,” Xu said. “At the same time, Chinese consumers are getting more familiar with African products, which carry distinct local features.”
“The complementary resources in China and Africa have granted a solid basis and great potential for investment and cooperation,” he added. “What we need to do for the next step is to continue the liberalization of commodity trade and share experience with each other.”
“Africa is rich in natural resources, which requires capital and investment in the form of equipment, machinery and technology, to explore it,” said Benedict Oramah, executive vice-president of Afreximbank.
He expects both Chinese and African entrepreneurs to “drill deeper into the opportunities that exist in the context of the emerging better China-Africa partnership”.
The exhibitors also have high expectations that they will find potential clients, partners and investors during the exhibition.
Mamadou Sow, CEO of one of the exhibiting companies, Senegal-headquartered power company Matforce Co Ltd, said the exhibition is “a good occasion for Africans and Chinese to get together and understand each other better”.
The company, with a history dating back to 1898, does business in seven countries in Africa and is cooperating with a number of Chinese companies there.
“So far, we have seen Chinese companies going to Africa, but we don’t see African companies coming to China,” he said, adding that he expects to open an office in China in a year from now, and the model could be a joint venture in which a Chinese side partner holds 50 percent of the shares.
Adeyemi Abdulfattah, a painter and teacher at Federal Polytechnic in Nigeria, finds the exhibition is also a good place for cultural exchange. He has brought much of his artwork, which mainly includes traditional African-style paintings and handicrafts.
“Not many nations have such a rich culture and history like China, so it’s inspiration for me as an artist from Nigeria to be in China to show my artwork and learn Chinese culture,” he said. “There will be more understanding and a lot of social and cultural interaction.”
“When both our cultures are very good, we become close friends,” the artist added. “And so many beautiful things can come out based on that friendship.”