China says imports from zero-tariff countries rose 15.3%; Kenyan avocado, coffee sales to China up

Xinhua reported on 14 October, citing General Administration of Customs data, that China's imports from its zero-tariff countries were 867.53 billion yuan in January–September, up 15.3% on the same period of 2025. China began applying zero tariffs to 53 African countries with diplomatic ties on 1 May, and the number of countries with zero tariffs has reached 63.

At the People's Bank of China's central parity rate of 6.7180 yuan to the dollar on 4 November, 867.53 billion yuan is about US$129.1 billion. At the Central Bank of Kenya's indicative mean rate of KSh 129.96 to the dollar on 29 October, that is about KSh 16.8 trillion.

Lü Daliang, a customs spokesperson and director of its Statistics and Analysis Department, told a press conference on the third-quarter trade figures on 14 October that China's agricultural imports from Egypt, Senegal, Kenya and other countries all grew by double digits or more in the first three quarters.

On 6 November, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told the regular press conference that China–Africa trade in the first nine months of the year passed US$310 billion, up 22%. He said zero tariffs have cut the cost of China–Africa trade and brought benefits to more African small businesses and farmers.

Kenya's avocado exports to China rose 63.22% by volume in May–August compared with the same months of 2025, from 2.31 million kg to 3.76 million kg, and by 59.65% in value, from 27 million yuan to over 43.15 million yuan (about US$6.4 million, or KSh 835 million, at the rates above), KBC reported on 26 September. The avocado figures were presented during a visit by Chinese and Kenyan officials to Sunripe, a Kenyan avocado exporter in Naivasha. Exports of unroasted green coffee rose 139.66% by volume, from 712,610 kg to 1.71 million kg, and 97.33% in value, from 49.8 million yuan to 98.3 million yuan (about US$14.6 million, or KSh 1.9 billion).

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan gave further percentages at a reception at the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi on 30 September, Citizen Digital reported. She said avocado oil exports to China were up 700% and coffee exports had nearly doubled, and that exports of Kenyan aquatic products, including sea cucumbers, were up 350% by the end of August.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said at the same event that "Kenya's exports to China are growing, particularly coffee, avocadoes and tea".

Kenya and China signed an Early Harvest zero-tariff arrangement in March, according to Jane Makori, Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at Kenya's State Department for Foreign Affairs. Ren Hongbin, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, had told a China–Kenya business forum in Nairobi on 23 March that China would apply zero tariffs to the 53 African countries with diplomatic ties, including Kenya, from 1 May, Xinhua reported.

Before zero tariffs began, Kenya's exports to China were falling. Business Daily, citing the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2026 Economic Survey, reported on 3 May that they were KSh 16.9 billion in 2025, down 35.7% from KSh 26.3 billion in 2024 and the lowest in five years. KNBS attributed the fall largely to titanium ores and concentrates and macadamia nuts; titanium mined in Kwale since 2013 was exhausted in 2024, and the Agriculture and Food Authority had banned the harvest and export of macadamia nuts.

Kenya's imports from China in 2025 were KSh 671.2 billion, up 16.5% from KSh 576.1 billion, leaving a record deficit with China of KSh 654.3 billion, up 19.0% from KSh 549.8 billion. China supplied 24.2% of Kenya's total imports of KSh 2.77 trillion.

Erastus Mwencha, a former Vice Chair of the African Union Commission, said the tariff concession should push Kenya and other African countries beyond raw commodity exports towards processing and value addition, KBC reported.

Hasit Shah, Sunripe's managing director, said Kenya needs to "establish the brand of Kenya, the reputation" through a programme "over the next three to five years". On phytosanitary standards for avocados, he said: "we are not having any issues at all."