How the China-Africa trade
boosts economic cooperation
Every morning, in Huajian factories
across Africa, employees begin their day
with a military-step assembly.
The company’s founder,
Zhang Hua Rong, built a shoe empire
founded on indoctrination.
From a workshop with just
three sewing machines, he grew
his business to become one of
China’s largest shoe exporters.
Zhang’s megafactories supply to big
brands like Coach, Karl Lagerfeld,
Kendall + Kylie, and the Ivanka Trump
label before it ceased operations.
In this African factory,
he has a 200 strong Chinese
management overseeing more than
2,000 local workers.
Established in 2013, the Ethiopia China
Huajian International Light Industry City was one of the first foreign companies
to set up shop in Ethiopia.
The African factory is often
cited by Chinese media
as a shining example of the BRI.
The combination of cheap labour
and a government hungry for
foreign investments made it
extremely attractive.
Since 2000,
the China-Africa trade has been growing
at approximately 20% year on year.
Since 2000,
the China-Africa trade has been growing
at approximately 20% year on year.
FDI has been growing even faster,
at 40% annually.
In 2018, China was Africa’s largest trading partner with a trade volume of US$204.2 billion.
There are more than 10,000 Chinese firms
in Africa and together, they have created
millions of jobs and apprenticeships.
Source: McKinsey report June 2017
