We will gather high-quality African products to boost China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. The fourth "Double Goods Online Shopping Festival" and African Good Goods Online Shopping Festival will be held from April 28 to May 12 in the form of online and offline integration. In Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan and other places in China, more than 200 high-quality and characteristic products from more than 20 African countries were recommended to Chinese consumers through various forms such as Chinese and African anchors' live broadcasting of goods and live links of African origin. The African Shopping Online Festival is one of the digital innovation projects announced by China during the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year. It will inject new impetus into China-Africa economic and trade cooperation to a higher level.


Bring together African products and promote African brands


"The quality of African products is guaranteed. You are welcome to choose from them, and you are welcome to visit Africa..." Gao Xiang, an international student from The Republic of Congo, is introducing special African products to Chinese consumers watching the live broadcast of "China-Africa", a good African product in Gaoqiao Market in Changsha, Hunan Province. In gaoqiao Market, China-Africa Economic and trade Cooperation innovation Demonstration Park, African products sale, African coffee tasting and other activities were held at the same time. A large number of coffee lovers also held a hand-grind coffee competition. The scene was very lively.

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Humina sesame oil from Ethiopia, Fire Chief chili sauce from Rwanda, Cape Lion nuts from South Africa... Many African agricultural products have nice Chinese names. Humina sesame oil, for example, comes from Ethiopia's famous Humera region, where sesame seeds contain 50 to 56 percent oil. Fire Chief chili sauce is an innovative fusion of Rwandan chili and Hunan fermented black beans. "In the past, Chinese consumers did not know much about African products and their imports were mainly wholesale in bulk without their own brands. "We help African exporters localize and customize catchy homophonic product names that are recognized by the market." Hunan gaoqiao market central Africa business department related person in charge wu Lianbin said.


Limited by the development level of the local industrial chain, Rwanda used to export chili to China mainly for wholesale, unable to form a brand effect. China has launched the "African Brand Warehouse" project to incubate brands, customize packaging and develop high-quality products for export companies from Rwanda and other countries. The African products entering the Chinese market are more and more in line with consumer demand. "Processing in Africa can boost local employment without significantly increasing costs." At last year's Product Live E-commerce Festival in Africa, Rwandan chili sauce sold 50,000 orders in three days, Wu said.


"Ugandan mangoes are sweet and big, making them the biggest of mangoes." "Doctor tea is South Africa's 'national treasure' tea, which can calm spirits and help people sleep." In the e-commerce live broadcast of Zhejiang special session of The African Good Things Online Shopping Festival, there are a combination of two anchors in each live broadcast room. The event also set up live broadcast rooms in South Africa, the DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and other countries to create immersive live broadcast scenes, so that Chinese consumers can visit local factories and orchards online, and have a more intuitive sense of the source of products. "This is my first live broadcast, and it's a good format for me to communicate and interact with more Chinese friends and bring more African products into Chinese people's lives." Congolese (Dr) students in China Li Meili said.


Upgrade digital trade and enrich consumption experience


During the African Online Shopping Festival, diplomatic envoys from many African countries enthusiastically introduced their high-quality goods to The Chinese audience via live broadcast. During a live broadcast in Zhejiang province, the 1,000 bottles of African beer in stock were snapped up within three minutes after the link to buy African beer was posted, and other products were also sold out.


"The Africa Good Things Online Shopping Festival is another large platform for African countries to introduce quality products to Chinese consumers." Tanzania's Ambassador to China Mbelwa Kailuki said Tanzania and other African countries hope to make good use of platforms such as the Good Things in Africa Online Shopping Festival to showcase Africa's high-quality products, rich tourism resources and numerous investment opportunities to the Chinese people.


"I am glad to have the opportunity to introduce Rwandan products to Chinese consumers again." James Kimonio, Rwandan Ambassador to China, said that since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on E-commerce cooperation between Rwanda and China in 2018, many high-quality Rwandan products have entered the Chinese market through major Chinese e-commerce platforms. "We also welcome Chinese tourists to visit Rwanda and Chinese enterprises to invest in Rwanda," he said.


By 2021, South Africa has been China's largest trading partner in Africa for 11 consecutive years. Joseph Dimor, Minister counsellor of the South African Embassy in China, said African countries are aware of the great potential of the digital economy against the backdrop of the current global COVID-19 pandemic and hope to foster more cooperation with China in this regard.


In recent years, China-Africa trade cooperation has been upgraded and digital trade has developed rapidly. New forms of business cooperation such as digital cooperation platforms, online promotion meetings and live delivery of goods have flourished, effectively supporting the connection between Chinese and African businesses and promoting the export of African products to China. Digital economy is becoming a new highlight of China-Africa cooperation.


"This is the first time for Hainan to hold the Online Shopping Festival with Africa. We will actively showcase African products, invite African ambassadors to China, commercial counsellors and Internet celebrities to be guests in the live broadcast room, set up special events for ambassador promotion, Special events for Hainan products, special events for Africa and special events for commercial and agricultural development, and carry out more than 100 live promotional activities. At the same time, hainan cities and counties will also hold sub-venue activities, so that consumers can enjoy the unique African customs." Said Wu Yifen, director of e-commerce department of Hainan Provincial Department of Commerce.

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"We hope to further promote the high-quality development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation through activities such as the African Shopping Online Festival." Zhang Qianjiang, deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, introduced that Zhejiang has made a lot of beneficial attempts in promoting the introduction of African good things into Zhejiang and the promotion of Chinese cross-border e-commerce and livestream e-commerce into Africa. During the "E-commerce Promotion Season for African Products" of the forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2021, A total of 106 live broadcasts were held in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, covering a period of nearly three months, with a turnover of more than 50 million yuan.


We will implement the nine-point Project and deepen China-Africa cooperation


According to the General Administration of Customs of China, the total bilateral trade between China and Africa in 2021 reached us $254.3 billion, up 35.3 percent year on year, among which, Africa exported US $105.9 billion to China, up 43.7 percent year on year. Analysts believe that China-Africa trade has enhanced the resilience of The African economy to meet the challenges posed by the epidemic and provided a steady source of momentum for Africa's economic recovery.


Charles Onunaiju, director of the Center for Chinese Studies in Nigeria, said that China's efforts to accelerate the building and expansion of its domestic market is a great boon to its trading partners, especially developing countries hit hard by the epidemic. This means more opportunities to export to China, and the resumption of trade and increased exports is one of the main drivers of economic recovery in these countries.