South Africa retained first place in the list of China’s top trading partners in Africa, with $53.7 billion in total trade and, according to Chinese customs statistics, a trade surplus of approximately $8 billion.
The diversity of South Africa’s imports from China, when compared with the concentration of its exports, reflects both a certain degree of dependence on Chinese manufactured and higher value-added products and, more importantly, the structural asymmetry that characterizes the bilateral trade relationship.
