China Upgrades Green Channel to Fast-Track African Farm Exports

News in Brief:

— China has upgraded its Green Channel policy to speed up customs clearance for African agricultural exports, especially fresh produce, in a bid to reduce spoilage and delays.

— The new arrangement shifts market access talks from product-by-product negotiations to broader package deals for African countries.

China has upgraded its Green Channel policy to fast-track the clearance of African agricultural products, with fresh produce taking priority under the new arrangement. 

The policy shift is part of Beijing’s broader push to deepen agricultural trade with Africa and make the Chinese market more accessible to exporters on the continent.

Tackling Difficulties in China-Africa Trade

Deputy Director of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Office in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shuai Guipeng, disclosed the development on Monday in Beijing during a presentation on China-Africa relations, implementation of the FOCAC Beijing Summit outcomes and the zero-tariff policy. 

He stated that the upgraded mechanism was designed to solve the problems caused by the long distance between China and Africa, particularly transportation delays, preservation challenges and the need to maintain freshness in food shipments.

According to him, the General Administration of Customs of China has strengthened the Green Channel policy to make customs clearance faster and more efficient for African agricultural exports. The move is expected to ease bottlenecks that have frustrated exporters and sometimes threatened the quality of perishable commodities before they reach the market.

Shuai was responding to concerns raised by African journalists over delays in clearing fresh produce, including stone fruits exported from South Africa, where slow clearance can reduce product quality because of the short shelf life of such goods.

He said China is now working to simplify procedures by moving away from one-by-one negotiations for market access and adopting a broader package approach for agricultural and food products.

“In the past, we negotiated with African countries about market access for those fresh products one by one, separately for different kinds of products. Now we are considering package negotiations on agricultural and food products,” he revealed. He added that crops such as citrus, oranges and blueberries could be considered together under the new model to make both market access talks and clearance procedures more efficient.

Sustaining Smooth Food Trade

According to Shuai, China would still discuss with individual African countries to determine which products should benefit from smoother access to the Chinese market. He also disclosed that China was engaging its Ministry of Agriculture on a zero-tariff policy for African agricultural and food products, while also backing infrastructure development and industrial expansion.

He said improving production capacity and adding value to African agricultural products would help more goods from the continent enter the Chinese market. He linked the trade push to China’s broader cooperation agenda in Africa, including logistics and infrastructure support for export competitiveness.

Since China removed import tariffs on products from 54 African countries in May 2026, experts have speculated on how much this will benefit the continent, especially for countries with existing trade relations. 

Countries like Kenya and South Africa have already capitalised on the zero-tariff regime to export their agro products to the Chinese market.  This upgraded mechanism will further remove trade barriers and encourage more business between the Chinese and African traders.