Zero customs duties: making the vast Chinese market a great opportunity for Senegal and Africa
On February 14, 2026, Chinese President XI Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the 39th African Union Summit and announced that from May 1, 2026, China will fully implement zero-tariff treatment to all African countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, China will continue to discuss and sign economic partnership agreements for shared development, and expand access for African products to the Chinese market by improving the “green channel,” among other measures.
This initiative is part of the continuity and strengthening of the zero customs duties already granted to 33 African countries, including Senegal, from December 1, 2024. It aims to further link China’s high-level opening up to the priority needs of African countries in terms of increasing exports, attracting investments and creating jobs. It will promote China-Africa cooperation in green industries, electronic commerce and payment, technology, artificial intelligence and other emerging sectors. This zero customs duty treatment, a flagship measure of Sino-African cooperation in the new era, sends a strong signal of opening of the Chinese market and represents an important development lever for Africa.
The international community welcomed this initiative. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on all developed and economically strong countries to adopt similar measures. Many African states, through their governments, the private sector and think tank researchers, have highlighted the particular importance of new initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping, including the zero tariff policy. These, in a global context marked by uncertainties, offer new perspectives to African companies and illustrate mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa in their march towards modernization.
Making tariff exemptions a lever for shared prosperity between China and Senegal
Senegal is an important country in West Africa and the African continent. It was the first West African country to sign the cooperation document with China relating to the Belt and Road Initiative. The conclusion, in June 2025, of the Economic Partnership Framework Agreement for Shared Development with China, provides increased stability and broader prospects for bilateral trade and investment. In 2025, the Sino-Senegalese trade volume reached a record high of more than 6.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 7.3% over the previous year. China remains Senegal’s largest trading partner and main supplier of bilateral financing.
The year 2026 will mark the start of the implementation of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which defines China’s future development trajectory and constitutes a source of opportunities for the realization of Vision Senegal 2050. Zero tariff treatment, as an integrated trade and investment measure, will significantly facilitate access for quality Senegalese agricultural products to the Chinese market of 1.4 billion consumers, particularly peanuts, sesame, cashew nuts, aquatic products, as well as emblematic products such as baobab, bissap and ditakh. The improvement and stabilization of export prospects will encourage the influx of foreign investment into Senegal, thus boosting local manufacturing production and the upscaling of industries. This dynamic will contribute to the emergence of centers of excellence and the transformation of the country into a regional industrial and export hub. Such development will lead to the creation of jobs for young people and improvement in the well-being of populations.
In its quest for development and revitalization, Senegal has found a traveling companion and a loyal brother in China. China will continue to be, whatever the vagaries of the international situation, the engine of global economic growth. It will resolutely pursue its high-level opening-up policy, shoulder more international obligations, and continue to take concrete measures to reduce tariffs, boost development, improve living conditions, and combat arbitrary imposition of tariffs.
China is ready to work hand in hand with Senegal to perfect trade facilitation mechanisms, realize the potential of tariff exemptions as a driver of shared prosperity, bring more benefits to the people of cooperation, and open up new prospects for the China-Senegal comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, as well as the construction of the China-Africa community with a shared future for all times in the new era.
By the Chinese Embassy in Senegal
