Since the State Council approved a general plan by the People's Government of Hunan Province and the Ministry of Commerce on building a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation in January of 2024, Hunan's cumulative trade with Africa has amounted to 103.64 billion CNY by October of 2025, surpassing the 100-billion-CNY mark. This included 53.34 billion CNY in exports and 50.3 billion CNY in imports, with trade partners spanning nearly all African countries and regions, said the Changsha Customs Authority on November 13, 2025.

Hunan's imports and exports with Africa increased 17% year on year to 48.85 billion CNY in the first ten months of this year, topping the central and western parts of China in trade volume with the continent. South Africa emerged as Hunan's largest trading partner in Africa, with bilateral trade totaling 12.78 billion CNY during the period, accounting for 26.2% of Hunan's total trade with Africa during the same period. Hunan's trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria reached 5.94 billion CNY and 4.01 billion CNY, respectively. During the same period, the province's trade with Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinea, and other countries also saw rapid growth.

Hunan's construction machinery, agricultural machinery, new energy vehicles, and other products have effectively supported the development of transportation, communications, water sector, and agriculture in Africa. During the January-October period, Hunan's exports of mechanical and electrical products to Africa grew 14.6% to 13.44 billion CNY, accounting for 58.8% of total exports. The provincial exports of construction machinery, steel, and the "new three"—new energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, rose 73.4%, 25.1%, and 394.9%, respectively.

Customs statistics showed that in the first ten months of this year, Hunan's imports of African dried chili peppers, nuts, coffee, sesame seeds, and other products surged 1,010%, 613.9%, 249.1%, and 147.7% respectively compared with the same period last year.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn