Chinese envoy says Africa zero tariffs have no quota limits; for Kenya, quota goods get zero duty only within quota

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Cong Song said at the Ghana-China Zero-Tariff Forum 2026 in Accra on 15 October that China's zero-tariff treatment of African goods has "no quota restrictions", Xinhua reported on 16 October. Kenya is among the 20 countries covered by a separate notice under which goods subject to tariff-rate quotas get zero duty only within the quota.

Cong described three features of the policy. It is offered unilaterally, with no requirement for African countries to open their markets in return; "there are no quota restrictions, meaning there is no ceiling on the volume of African exports to China"; and it "comes with no political strings attached".

The policy took effect on 1 May 2026. The Ministry of Commerce said China would apply zero tariffs to 53 African countries with diplomatic ties, and that goods meeting origin and inspection-and-quarantine requirements would qualify.

The 53 are treated in two groups. The 33 least developed countries among them have had zero tariffs on 100 per cent of tariff lines since 1 December 2024. For the other 20, the State Council Tariff Commission announced on 28 April (Announcement No. 5 of 2026) that zero tariffs apply as a preferential rate from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028. Kenya is on the list of 20 in the notice's annex, which gives the country list and the tariff lines and rates.

For those 20 countries, Xinhua's 28 April report on the notice said that for goods under tariff-rate quotas only the in-quota rate falls to zero, and the out-of-quota rate is unchanged. A tariff-rate quota lets a set volume of a good enter at a low rate; imports above that volume pay a higher one. An August notice from the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce (No. 4 of 2026) on China's 2026 import tariff quotas for farm products names wheat, maize, rice, cotton and sugar.

The Ministry of Commerce said Kenyan coffee and avocados previously faced duties of 8 to 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, Lee Kinyanjui, named tea, coffee, avocados, macadamia nuts and fresh produce as the main products that could gain, Xinhua reported on 1 May. He said the arrangement also covers value-added products, including leather, natural resins, gums and processed agricultural items.

Kenya's exports to China fell 35.7 per cent in 2025 to KSh 16.9 billion from KSh 26.3 billion in 2024, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data reported by Business Daily on 3 May show. Imports from China rose to KSh 671.2 billion from KSh 576.1 billion, and the deficit reached a record KSh 654.3 billion.

KNBS attributed the fall in exports largely to titanium ores and macadamia nuts. Titanium ore mined in Kwale since 2013 was exhausted in 2024, with the last consignment shipped in early 2025, and the Agriculture and Food Authority banned the harvest and export of macadamia nuts.

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) reported on 26 September that data presented during a visit by Chinese and Kenyan officials to Sunripe, an avocado exporter in Naivasha, showed avocado exports to China rising from 2.31 million kg in May to August 2025 to 3.76 million kg in the same months of 2026. The same data showed unroasted green coffee exports rising from 712,610 kg to 1.71 million kg.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on 22 May that Kenyan avocados were among African products entering China duty-free and appearing in supermarkets.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan told a seminar in Nairobi on 27 April, as reported by Xinhua, that zero tariffs cut institutional costs and raise the competitiveness of Kenyan products in the Chinese market. Kenya and China signed an Early Harvest zero-tariff arrangement in March 2026 under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation framework.