China-Africa trade hits record $185 billion in first 9 months

[superadmin]

China-Africa trade reached $185.2 billion between January and September of this year, up 38.2 percent year on year, establishing a new record for the period, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said on Wednesday.

China has become Africa's largest trading partner over the last 12 consecutive years, and its exports of machinery and daily necessities have well met the production and living needs of the African people. 

Africa is also an important source of mineral resources for China, which plays a very important role in maintaining the stability of the country's industrial chain.

In the first nine months, China's foreign direct investment in Africa went up 9.9 percent compared with a year ago to $2.59 billion, according to the vice minister. The growth rate was 3 percentage points higher than the country's overall foreign investment and exceeded the level of the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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