Namibia’s trade relations with China have surged, with bilateral trade volumes surpassing N$24 billion in 2023.
China, consistently ranking as Namibia’s second-largest trading partner, experienced a notable 16.5% year-on-year trade volume growth.
Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy, Shen Jian, noted the deepening economic cooperation between China and Namibia, citing the highly complementary nature of their economies.
This comes as China is a stable export market for Namibia’s minerals such as uranium, lithium and marble, as well as agricultural products such as beef and oysters.
“China welcomes more Namibian products to enter the Chinese market, and the two governments are currently negotiating on the export of Namibia’s deep-sea red crab, abalone, mutton, grape, frozen lobster and others to China,” said Jian at the Promotion Conference of the 7th China International Import Expo and Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Namibia on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, he added that China’s electrical equipment, machinery, steel, garments, and articles of daily use have also provided Namibian consumers with a variety of choices with high quality and low prices.
Jian highlighted that China has also been the largest source of foreign direct investment in Namibia for many years as more than 50 Chinese enterprises have invested or been doing business in Namibia.
“Their businesses have covered the fields of mineral resources development, civil engineering, information and communication, agriculture and husbandry as well as tourism, creating more than 10,000 high-quality jobs for the local people,” he noted.
Chinese enterprises’ investments in Swakop Uranium and Rössing Uranium contribute roughly 7% to Namibia’s GDP and annually pay approximately N$1.3 billion in taxes to the Namibian government.
“In the future, we hope to further align the national development plans between the two countries, continuously expand the areas of cooperation, and open up a new era of win-win cooperation and common development in the digital economy, green energy and other areas,” he said.
Chargé d’affaires said that Namibians are increasingly eyeing business prospects in China, while Chinese firms show heightened interest in investing in Namibia.
Thus, the Chinese Embassy in Namibia, in partnership with the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board, to facilitate trade and investment between China and Namibia to make meaningful contributions to Namibia’s economic and social progress.
Meanwhile, the China International Import Expo, envisioned, proposed, deployed, and promoted by H.E. President Xi Jinping, stands as the world’s inaugural import-themed state-level expo.
Jian said since its inception in 2018, it has effectively served as a platform for international procurement, investment promotion, people-to-people exchanges, and open cooperation.
The Embassy noted that the Expo, supported by China’s vast market, has strengthened the link between China and the rest of the world, making significant contributions to the global economy’s recovery and the advancement of an open global economic landscape.
