Starting from May 1st, China will fully implement 100% tariff-free treatment for all tariff line products from 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China. Using tariff reductions (“subtraction”) to promote international trade growth (“addition”) and improve people’s livelihoods (“multiplication”), this policy will open up new growth space for China-Africa textile and garment trade. Domestic fabric and garment export orders are expected to see a concentrated increase.

A Major Policy Lands, China-Africa Textile Trade Enters a Historic Turning Point

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa, and it is also the “China-Africa People-to-People and Cultural Exchange Year”. Many favorable policies have been rolled out intensively. This 100% tariff-free policy covers all tariff lines with no product category restrictions. It is the largest tariff reduction measure for a single continent in China’s opening-up history. Compared with the previous preferential policies that only covered some of Africa’s least developed countries, it has achieved three upgrades: in scope, intensity and depth.

As early as during the 39th AU Summit on February 14th, China had already released this “Spring Festival gift package” in advance. With its official implementation on May 1st, African-origin cotton and textile raw materials can enter the Chinese market tariff-free, reducing the raw material costs of domestic textile enterprises. At the same time, the tariff barriers for China’s cost-effective fabrics, ready-made clothes, home textiles and other products to enter the African market are completely eliminated. Their price competitiveness is greatly improved, which directly drives the growth of orders.

High Trade Base Growth, Textiles and Garments Remain a Core Export Category to Africa

Customs data shows that in 2025, the trade volume between China and Africa reached 2.49 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%, hitting a new high. China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. The scale of international trade has increased more than 20 times compared with the early days of the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000.

Among them, textiles and garments are the third largest pillar category of exports to Africa: in 2025, China’s exports of textiles and garments to Africa reached 33.94 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%, accounting for 8.7% of the national exports of the same products. Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Algeria are the top five export destinations, accounting for 58.7% in total. Demand for rigid-demand categories such as polyester fabrics, pure cotton printed fabrics, batik fabrics, ready-made clothes and home textiles remains strong.

Africa’s local light industry foundation is weak, with insufficient self-sufficiency in textiles and a high dependence on imports. This provides a broad market for Chinese textile enterprises. After the zero-tariff policy is implemented, export costs will drop further, the threshold for small and medium-sized textile enterprises to develop the African market will be greatly reduced, and order growth is expected.

Supporting Customs Clearance Facilitation to Speed Up the Flow of Textile Goods

To ensure the implementation of the zero-tariff policy, China has simultaneously upgraded the green channel for China-Africa trade customs clearance. It has simplified inspection and quarantine procedures and shortened customs clearance time, greatly improving the customs clearance efficiency of fast-moving consumer goods such as textile fabrics and garments. At the same time, the China-Africa economic and trade cooperation mechanism continues to deepen, and supporting services such as cross-border logistics, financial settlement and international trade dispute resolution are constantly improved, providing protection for textile enterprises to go global.

China-Africa Textile Cooperation Moves Towards High-Quality Development

Zero tariff not only expands the scale of international trade, but also promotes the transformation of China-Africa textile cooperation from “pursuing quantity” to “improving quality”. In the future, high-value-added products such as functional fabrics, environmentally friendly recycled textiles and fashionable ready-made clothes will become the main force of exports to Africa. Domestic textile enterprises can take advantage of the policy to deepen long-term cooperation with African buyers, layout overseas warehouses and offline channels, and build a stable supply chain system.Use tariff reductions to promote trade growth and benefit people’s livelihoods. The official implementation of the zero-tariff policy is approaching on May 1st. The textile and garment industry is facing an unprecedented development opportunity. Seizing the policy window and expanding the African market is expected to become a new engine for foreign trade growth.