Nigerian envoy urges China to 'cut import tariffs'

Nigeria's ambassador to China, Aminu Bashir Wali, is calling on Beijing to cut import tariffs on a wider range of African products and encourage more Chinese companies to invest in the continent.

While applauding the efforts made so far by both sides to build long-lasting business ties, Wali told China Daily that there is a growing trade imbalance between the two, strongly in favor of China.

"China needs Africa and Africa needs China. But a more harmonious relationship in terms of trade should be established," he said.

"The flow of trade is certainly in favor of China, and two ways of improving that would be to encourage more direct investment into Africa and cut tariffs on African goods and exports."

China's cumulative investment in Africa has reached $15 billion over the past decade, and investment has been growing rapidly, in particular in sectors such as mining, energy, agriculture and infrastructure.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, China's direct investment in Africa in 2011 surged 58.9 percent year-on-year to $1.7 billion.

During his keynote speech at the 2012 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last month, President Hu Jintao said the two sides should focus on improving trade structure and quality.

"In the next three years, the Chinese government will take measures ... to support the cause of peace and development in Africa and boost a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership," said Hu.

As part of the commitment, he pledged $20 billion in new loans to Africa for infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. China will also offer 18,000 government scholarships and send 1,500 medical staff to the continent.

But according to Wali, the import tariffs set on some African goods remain far too high, and this is already starting to hurt the competitiveness of some of Africa's key export sectors.

The latest figures show that China-Africa bilateral trade was $166 billion in 2011, three times the 2006 amount, and China became the continent's biggest trading partner in 2009.

However, the ambassador highlighted an example of the type of tariff problem being faced by his country and others across the continent.

Trade in one of Nigeria's most important crops, cassava - a woody shrub extensively cultivated for its edible starchy root, which is a rich source of carbohydrates - has been causing particular concern, after exports to China started over the past year.

"We are the largest cassava-producing country in the world. But there is a tariff of 5 percent for exporting cassava to China, which makes our exports less competitive compared with those from Vietnam and Thailand," he said.

"We are trying to negotiate with the Ministry of Commerce to look into the exemption of that tariff."

To help rebalance trade ties, China has introduced measures to eliminate tariffs for more than 500 categories of goods, and during the recent forum the Chinese government vowed to expand the range of African products, for example by hosting more trade expos to display African merchandise.

Wali noted that the Chinese government has also made continuous efforts to help improve living conditions in Africa through foreign aid, and infrastructure construction, on top of increasing imports of commodities from Africa.

Over the past six years, Chinese money has been used to establish more than 100 schools, 30 hospitals, 30 medical centers combating malaria, and 20 agricultural technology centers across Africa.

The nation has also kept its promise to offer preferential loans worth $15 billion.

During the July forum, the two sides signed 10 documents worth $500 million.

As the continent's most populous nation, Wali said that Nigeria, with more than 300 million people, represents "the harbor from which China should invest more".

In the latest deal between the two, a $1.5 billion railway project will be built by the State-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corp.

But despite the rapid growth in Chinese investment in Africa, he said that the scale of investment being made is still smaller than that into Asia and Europe, and Africa is the fourth-largest destination for Chinese outbound direct investment.

"The investment environment in Africa is the most favorable in the world because of the opportunities available," said Wali.

He highlighted the mining industry, in particular, as one to focus attention.

"There should be efforts to encourage Chinese investment into Africa to process the minerals, add value, and create more jobs," he said.

Sebastien Breteau, chief executive of AsiaInspection, a Hong Kong quality control service provider specializing in investments all over the globe, recommended that, apart from raw materials, Chinese investors should look at Africa's "manufacturing sector and key infrastructure" projects, which could "generate employment and boosts production".

"China has a growing economy and needs natural resources," he said.

"Africa has these natural resources, but also needs money for development.

"So it becomes clearly a win-win situation for them to come together and develop closer cooperation," said Breteau.

Wali added: "Africa has woken up now. All its countries want to develop fast because the whole world is leaving us behind.

"China could partner with us to develop and improve our economies, and our social livelihood," he said.

"It's a perfect match."

Contact the writers at dingqingfen@chinadaily.com.cn and lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn