DRC-China: 19.2 billion USD in trade in seven months, Beijing wants to expand the partnership beyond mines
Trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo and China exceeded 19.2 billion US dollars between January and July 2026, according to figures communicated on Wednesday by the Chinese ambassador to the DRC, Zhao Bin. During the same period, the DRC recorded a trade surplus of nearly USD 10.6 billion with China.
These figures were presented at a press conference organized in Kinshasa on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. For Beijing, this progression reflects the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries, with the stated desire to now expand cooperation to sectors other than mining.
China focuses on diversification
Ambassador Zhao Bin cited several areas expected to take up more space in economic relations with Kinshasa: agriculture, mineral processing, infrastructure, health, professional training, clean energy, information technology and smart education.
The Chinese side also encourages the DRC to increase its exports to the Chinese market, in particular by taking advantage of the policy of removing customs duties announced for several African countries.
Since May 1, 2026, according to the ambassador, China has applied a zero customs tariff to 53 African countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Beijing. The measure aims in particular to facilitate access of African products to the Chinese market.
“Two months later, the value of Chinese imports from Africa reached 193.8 billion yuan, an increase of 23.5% year-on-year. China continues to improve the 'green channel' for African agricultural and food products entering the Chinese market, enabling comprehensive market access for dried chili peppers, cashew nuts, coffee beans and wild aquatic products of African origin,” he said.
Beijing says it wants to improve the mechanisms allowing the entry of African agricultural and food products into its market. Coffee, cashew nuts, dried chili peppers and some aquatic products are among the products cited by Zhao Bin.
For the DRC, the challenge consists in particular of increasing and diversifying its exports, while its commercial relations with China remain largely structured around mining resources.
The ambassador also presented the local processing of minerals as one of the priority sectors of the next phase of cooperation.
Chinese companies claim significant contribution
The Chinese side also highlights the contribution of its companies to the Congolese economy.
According to data presented by Zhao Bin, Chinese companies would have created more than 120,000 direct jobs in the DRC in 2025 and paid more than 4 billion USD in taxes.
In the mining sector, they have invested more than 1.77 billion USD in infrastructure and nearly 100 million USD in projects in favor of local communities.
The ambassador also indicated that local staff recruitment and local agricultural procurement rates had reached 90%.
Beyond trade results, China intends to include its cooperation with the DRC among the priorities of the new cycle of its five-year plan.
Beijing particularly wishes to strengthen cooperation in productive sectors and further encourage exchanges of goods and services.
For Zhao Bin, the next step consists of transforming the growth of trade into more diversified cooperation, with an increased place given to agriculture, infrastructure, industrial transformation and new technologies.
MP.
