Africans' fatter wallets shift focus of bilateral trade

As Africa presses on with industrialization and urbanization, it is buying more of the machinery and consumer goods from China that it needs to make these two things happen.

Even though serious price fluctuations in commodity markets affected both economies and market demand last year, trade between China and Africa was worth $201 billion in the 11 months to November, up 5.3 percent year-on-year.

Cao Jiachang, deputy director-general of the department of Western Asian and African Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, says this is largely because many African countries have turned to other goods to trade with China, such as agricultural products, clothing and chemicals, as they are keen to further reduce the continent's heavy reliance on natural resources.