The UK's Institute of Development Studies published on 10 June 2026 a study titled "From Market Access to Strategic Openness: The New China-Africa Business Relationship" by Jing Gu.
China's new zero tariff policy for Africa opens doors for increased exports to China but does not automatically increase them. The real constraints are upstream standards compliance, rules of origin, certification, logistics, cold chains, customs systems, trade finance, and company-level capacity.
