Chart of the week: China-Africa trade (ft.com)
December 14, 2010 1:10am | Share
By Valentina Romei and Barney Jopson
In the debate over strengthening ties between China and Africa, trade relations are often boiled down to China’s insatiable hunger for African oil and minerals. China’s friends say this is a gross oversimplification, but the latest chart of the week (after the break) shows it’s not unreasonable.
Exports from sub-Saharan Africa to China lack diversity: 89 per cent last year were oil, minerals and other raw materials. The value of exports has grown at a staggering rate over the past decade - from $4.2bn in 2000 to $38bn in 2009 - but the high proportion of primary goods has not changed. Two things, however, get less recognition: the high concentration of exports from just a few African countries, and the nature of the trade in the opposite direction.
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