Jinhua's trade with Africa experienced remarkable growth in 2023, reaching a value of 116.85 billion yuan ($16.25 billion), accounting for 30.8 percent of Zhejiang's total trade, as per statistics released by Jinhua Customs.
This achievement can be chiefly attributed to the city's steadfast participation in the Belt and Road Initiative over the past decade.
From 2014 to 2023, Jinhua's cumulative import and export trade with Africa amounted to 740.27 billion yuan.
During the period, Jinhua has experienced rapid trade growth with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, and other countries, with average annual export and import growth rates of 36.2 percent, 20.9 percent, and 19.8 percent, respectively.
Driven by the import of unwrought copper and copper materials, Jinhua's import proportion from the Democratic Republic of the Congo surged from 1.2 percent in 2014 to 63.2 percent in 2023, marking a substantial increase.
Moreover, the proportion of electromechanical products exported to Africa saw a significant rise from 37.0 percent in 2014 to 45.8 percent in 2023, surpassing labor-intensive products to become the largest category of exported goods.
Additionally, the proportion of high-tech product exports increased from 0.8 percent to 2.1 percent during the same period.
In 2023, Jinhua's exports of indigenous brand products to Africa grew by 21.7 percent, driving growth of overall exports to Africa by 0.9 percentage points. Specifically, exports of indigenous brand electromechanical products and high-tech products both experienced double-digit growth, with the export of indigenous brand solar cells growing by 22.5 percent.
