On March 3, batches of durable and comfortable backpacks rolled off the production line at a special equipment company, being packaged and destined for Africa. In 2025, this company achieved a year-on-year increase of 180% in export volume, and its orders have already booked up through June this year.

Leveraging the new opportunities brought by China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, Yongzhou especially established an enterprise association for the trade with Africa. It regularly organizes key enterprises to conduct economic and trade inspection visits to Africa, and holds resource sharing and targeted matchmaking meetings. Relying on the Yongzhou Land Port, the city establishes and operates a full-industrial-chain digitalized trade platform and a China-Africa cross-border e-commerce platform, facilitating the presence of 35 enterprises in the cross-border e-commerce platform exhibition hall. The Yongzhou Authority has also optimized its policies and services to provide targeted financial support for the Africa-oriented cooperation projects. In 2025, Yongzhou's trade volume with Africa reached 668 million CNY, involving 56 Africa-oriented trading entities with their trade with Africa increasing by over 40% year on year.

Yongzhou has taken the initiative to integrate into Hunan's five major international trade channels, realizing a high-efficiency logistics gateway featuring "local containerization – direct access to port – seamless international shipment." In 2025, the Yongzhou Land Port innovated a "rail-sea intermodal transport + overseas warehouse delivery" pattern to satisfy the infrastructure construction demands of African countries. The annual trade volume with Africa reached 205 million CNY. In 2026, the land port plans to establish an overseas warehouse in Nigeria, with the annual trade volume anticipated to hit 840 million CNY.

Yongzhou has successfully established a bilateral empowerment and mutual benefit cooperation mechanism through its innovative exploration of an "African resources + Yongzhou's industries" collaboration mode. Africa countries have strong demands in such areas as electricity supply, light industrial manufacturing, and agricultural technology, which just align with Yongzhou's advantageous sectors. Yongzhou's photovoltaic-storage projects, leather goods and luggage, and electronic and motor products are popular in Africa. Africa's rich natural resources provide stable support for Yongzhou's industries. Yongzhou-made photovoltaic equipment has been exported to Djibouti, Ethiopia, and other African regions. A rare earth ore processing project in Nigeria, constructed by Yongzhou, has tripled the added value of the ores.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn