(Yicai Global) Sept. 3 -- The value of bilateral trade between China and the African continent jumped 40.5 percent in the first seven months from the same period last year to USD139.1 billion, reaching a historic high for the period, China’s vice minister of commerce said today.

China directly invested USD2.1 billion in African industries from January to July, more than in the same period in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Qian Keming said in the run up to the second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, to be held later this month.

The value of newly signed infrastructure projects in Africa soared 8.2 percent over the period year on year and completed turnover surged 7.8 percent, demonstrating Chinese companies’ confidence in the African market, Qian said.

Meanwhile, Chinese imports of Africa’s agricultural products such as rubber, cotton and coffee doubled. The overall import value of African goods jumped 46.3 percent to USD593 million.

Chinese companies are accelerating co-operation in the manufacturing, agricultural, medical and health industries in Africa and are making inroads into emerging fields such as clean energy, the digital economy and fifth-generation wireless networks, Qian said.

Fifty African embassies, six international organizations and over 900 Chinese businesses have registered to participate in the expo, which will be held in Changsha, central Hunan province from Sept. 26 - 29. Co-organized by the Ministry of Commerce and the Hunan government, it is the only economic trade platform that operates under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation mechanism.

Editor: Kim Taylor