Representative of the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria and the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Yan Yuqing, has said the bilateral trade between Nigeria and China stood at $22.6bn in 2023.
Yuqing also said Nigeria had maintained its position as China’s third-largest trading partner in Africa.
She disclosed this in Lagos at the arrival ceremony of CMA CGM Scandola, the largest container vessel to call at a Nigerian port.
It was reported that in November 2023, the top exports of China to Nigeria were synthetic filament yarn woven fabric ($160m), pesticides ($84.1m), non-knit women’s suits ($81.5m), mobile telephone devices ($67.2m), and artificial hair ($59m).
In November 2023, the top imports of China from Nigeria were petroleum gas ($95.8m), crude petroleum ($71.5m), niobium, tantalum, vanadium, and zirconium ore ($13.5m), zinc ore ($13.1m), and raw aluminum ($12.6m).
She, however, said that with the deployment of the CMA/CGM West Africa Express service direct from China to Lagos, the $1.5bn Lekki Port has become critical to growing the trade volume between Nigeria and China.
“The volume of bilateral trade between Nigeria and China stood at $22.6bn in 2023, according to statistics from the Chinese Customs Authority. China maintained its position as the top global trading partner and Nigeria stands as the third-largest trading partner for China in Africa,” she said.
Yuqing added that Nigeria’s export to China had also witnessed a year-on-year growth of about 50 per cent in 2023.
