Ms Yan Yuqing, Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos says her country’s zero-tariff policy reflects its responsibility in firmly safeguarding the international economic and trade order.
She made this known on Thursday in a message ahead of the implementation of a zero-tariff policy on all tariff lines for products from 53 African countries with diplomatic ties with China, from May 1.
Recall that, on Feb. 14, China’s President Xi Jinping, in a congratulatory message to the 39th African Union Summit, announced that China would implement the policy from May 1.
Also, China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi described the initiative as an arithmetic equation, using the “subtraction” of tariffs to drive the “addition” of trade and achieve the “multiplication” of livelihoods.
The foreign minister said that this would create greater opportunities for Africa through China’s vast market.
Yan said the zero-tariff initiative highlighted the defining feature of “mutual benefit and win-win cooperation” in the China-Africa community with a shared future.
“At present, a few major powers are pursuing unilateralism, protectionism, and trade bullying, which have severely impacted the global economic and trade system and posed significant challenges to developing countries, including those in Africa.
“Against this backdrop, China’s decision to grant zero tariff to African countries with diplomatic ties, without attaching any political conditions, not only provides stable market expectations for African countries and but also contributes to maintaining the stability of the global trading system,” she said.
According to Yan, Nigeria is an important trading partner of China in Africa.
She noted that in 2025, bilateral trade between China and Nigeria exceeded $28 billion, a year-on-year increase of over 28 per cent.
According to her, with the implementation of the zero-tariff policy, various Nigerian specialty products, including cashews, sesame, sorghum and dried ginger, will gain stronger price advantages in the Chinese market, positioning them for broader market recognition and access.
Yan said China would upgrade a range of supporting measures, including establishing “green channels” for African exports to China, opening commodity exhibition and sales platforms, and promoting cross-border e-commerce.
She said the efforts would further streamline information flows, reduce trade costs, enable precise matching of supply and demand, and fully unlock the policy dividends.
She said that expanding trade preferences had long been an important way for China to share development dividends with Africa.
The envoy reiterated that the Consulate General of China in Lagos was ready to take the zero-tariff initiative as an opportunity to actively facilitate business exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
“We will provide greater convenience for Nigeria to expand exports to China, promote the transition from primary commodity exports to value-added product exports, and support Nigeria in achieving diversified and high-quality development.
“China is committed to working with Nigeria and other African countries to fully leverage the favorable zero-tariff policy, further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and transform China’s vast market into Africa’s great opportunity,” the envoy said.
