Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Category: Commodities
23 Tons of Kenyan Avocados Sold Out on the Day They Arrived in Hunan Province
Kenyan avocados are once again flowing into the Chinese market, but not soon enough for many buyers who snapped 23 tons of the fruit that arrived last month in the Hunan capital of Changsha in central China. Changsha is fast emerging ...
Fun Fact: China’s Unexpected Corn Boom
Many would be surprised to hear the results of new research showing that China now produces more corn than rice. And its need for biofuels, starches and animal feed is so big it also imports huge amounts from other corn producers like Brazil.
Commodity Exporters in Developing Countries Fret as China’s Worsening COVID Outbreaks, Protests Prompts Sell-Off
Commodity sellers in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas are becoming increasingly anxious over the situation in China, where days of street protests and COVID outbreaks across the country are weighing down the price of their key exports.
Star Power Boosts Rwandan Coffee in Online Sales Session
The famous Chinese actress Liu Tao recently hosted a live sale of Rwandan coffee on Alibaba’s e-commerce website Taobao. She sold 500kg of coffee beans in 5 minutes. It usually takes two to three months to sell that much on e-commerce sites. These ...
Nigerian Garment Union Calls Out Local Officials in Fight Against Cheap Chinese Imports
Nigeria’s national union of textile workers is complaining about the complicity of customs officials in the flooding of the local market by Chinese textiles. While cheap imports from China have long been blamed for undercutting the local garment sector, the National Union of Textile, Garment, and Tailoring ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
China’s Australia Tensions a Win for South African Wines
South Africa doubled its exports of wine to China last year, following the souring of relations between Beijing and its biggest wine seller, Australia. While we’ve seen sporadic reports of how Western Cape wine farmers are leaning into their ...
Almost 2/3 of Africa’s Exports to China Last Year Came From Just Three Countries
The highly distorted nature of China-Africa trade in 2021 was the subject of a series of compelling charts and infographics published on Tuesday by the online financial news site Quartz. African exports, in particular, stood out. Only three ...
Rwanda’s Ambassador to China is Becoming an Innovative Pitchman for His Country’s Coffee Industry
If African countries are going to close their gaping trade deficits with China they'll have to find new ways to sell more of their goods to Chinese consumers. And James Kimonyo thinks he knows how. Kimonyo, Rwanda's Ambassador to China, is emerging ...
Uganda’s Museveni Calls on China to Grant Full Duty-Free Access For African Products
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called on China to further expand duty-free access to its vast market for African products. In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg News, the president acknowledged that China does already provide some tax-free privileges to African products, but now he'd like ...
Chongqing: The Former Rustbelt City at the Heart of the World Economy
Chongqing is a massive industrial city in China's heartland that many outsiders are unfamiliar with despite its enormous size. The city alone has a GDP of $386 billion, larger than both South Africa ($310 billion) and Egypt ($363 billion).