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JUST 10 years after establishing diplomatic and trade relations, China has overtaken the US, Japan, Germany and the UK to become SA’s biggest trading partner, according to the latest figures from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Trade volumes with China between January and July have reached R32,4bn, followed by the US with R21,7bn, Japan’s R19,7bn, Germany’s R17,5bn and the UK’s R15,2bn. This indicated an increase in SA-China trade of 11,95% from 8,45% in the same period last year.

The US was SA’s major trading partner only briefly, in the 2006- 07 financial year, after taking over from the UK, which had held the number one spot for a long time.

The increase in trade between the US and SA had been largely due to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) .

Agoa had enabled sub-Saharan African countries to export more than 1800 tariff line items duty- free to the US — on top of the 4600 tariff-free items listed under the Generalised System of Preferences.

According to Chinese ambassador Zhong Jianhua, the warm diplomatic ties between China and SA since 1998 had been matched by growing economic engagement, putting this country among China’s top three African trading partners. B ilateral trade volumes have risen from 800m in 1998 to 17,8bn last year.

Since 2000, China-Africa trade has grown 10 times, reaching 106,8bn last year , according to the Chinese commerce ministry.

Chinese exports to Africa have hit 50,8bn , while China’s imports from Africa have reached 56bn.

Other than imports of Africa’s raw materials, at least 500 of the continent’s products from 31 countries such as wines, tobacco, coffee and olive oil have received a zero-tariff treatment from the Chinese government and exposure to the country’s markets.

Zhong said SA had for the first time enjoyed a trade surplus with China and that this could increase.

He attributed the increase in South African exports to China to the international financial crisis, which saw most developed countries reduce their orders, especially from emerging economies.

China imports iron ore, gold, copper, chrome, wine, timber and paper pulp from SA, while China mostly exports value-added products, such as appliances and clothing. Angola — accounting for 24% of China-Africa trade — is China’s major African partner as it is the biggest source of China’s oil imports.

SA follows on 17%, then Sudan (8%), Nigeria (7%) and Egypt (6%). Angola and SA are ranked 29 and 31 respectively among China’s trading partners worldwide.

These countries collectively account for 62% of total China- Africa trade.

Economists have been critical of the skewed nature of China- Africa trade, saying China supplies value-added manufactured goods to Africa while the latter supplies mainly primary products.

The top import s to China last year have been mineral products (82%); precious stones and metals (3%); parts for motor vehicles (3%); wood products (2%); and base metals (1%).

The top export products from China last year to Africa in general have been machinery, transport equipment, footwear and plastic products.

businessday.co.za