Nigeria’s economic engagements with China have taken on a new dimension, with trade between Nigeria and China’s southern Guangxi region reaching $320 million in 2024, underscoring Beijing’s strategy of leveraging its provincial hubs to deepen African ties.
The disclosure came from Zhang Xiaoqin, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangxi People’s Congress, during a visit to the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) in Abuja. Zhang led a high-level delegation, joined by Zhou Hongyou, Head of Mission of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, in what observers see as part of a broader push by China to embed its subnational governments more firmly into Africa’s economic corridors.
Guangxi’s Rising Profile
According to Zhang, Guangxi is positioning itself as a strategic gateway in southern China, hosting the China-ASEAN Expo and serving as a growing trade hub. He noted that trade with Nigeria rose 21% last year, cementing Guangxi’s role in Beijing’s “regional diplomacy” approach.
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The Vice Chairman extended invitations to Nigerian businesses and tourists, citing Guangxi’s strengths in fruit production, mining, digital economy, and tourism—sectors China is keen to internationalize through partnerships. The region, long overshadowed by industrial powerhouses like Guangdong and Jiangsu, is now being pitched as a complementary partner for African economies looking to diversify beyond oil and raw materials.
Mr. Zhou Hongyou of the Chinese Embassy emphasized the cultural and economic similarities between Guangxi and Nigeria, stressing that subnational-to-national linkages could accelerate trade diversification. His remarks mirror Beijing’s strategy of embedding “people-to-people” narratives into economic diplomacy—a tactic often deployed to win African goodwill.
Nigeria’s Strategic Calculus
On the Nigerian side, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, Director-General of the NCSP, used the visit to spotlight Nigeria’s upgraded ties with China, now elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership following the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Tegbe reassured the delegation that the NCSP would continue to monitor agreed projects under FOCAC, oversee strategic investments of national interest, and coordinate Presidential initiatives in manufacturing, agriculture, and infrastructure. He pledged to lead an NCSP mission to Guangxi to “learn from China’s model of large-scale modernization,” framing the visit as part of a broader knowledge-exchange agenda.
Crucially, Tegbe positioned Guangxi as a new partner alongside Hunan Province, pledging to pursue practical opportunities in agricultural processing, manufacturing equipment, and fruit value chains—areas Nigeria is desperate to develop in its industrialization push.
Where the $320m fits in the map of China–Africa trade
Viewed against the aggregate of China–Africa commerce, the Guangxi–Nigeria number is a sliver. China’s trade with the African continent runs in the tens of billions of dollars; provincial figures such as Guangxi’s bilateral tally are therefore best read as complementary slices of a much larger whole.
Guangxi’s engagement is notable not because it reorders the ledger of China’s biggest partners, but because it signals two practical shifts: first, greater provincial initiative in Africa beyond the coastal manufacturing hubs; second, a diversification of China–Africa trade that now includes more regional Chinese players and more targeted, sectoral projects.
This latest engagement comes against the backdrop of $20 billion in investment commitments that Tegbe previously announced in July 2025, secured through recent Nigeria–China negotiations. At the time, he stressed that strengthening bilateral collaboration with Beijing was central to driving Nigeria’s industrialization agenda and reducing reliance on volatile oil exports.
The NCSP has increasingly become the anchor of Nigeria’s China strategy, tasked not only with implementing FOCAC projects but also with forging parallel partnerships outside formal frameworks. Analysts say this dual-track approach is necessary, given that many FOCAC projects often face implementation delays.
A Shift in China’s Africa Playbook
What is striking about Guangxi’s engagement is how China is decentralizing its Africa strategy. While Beijing and major coastal provinces like Guangdong have traditionally dominated Africa’s trade relations, provinces like Guangxi and Hunan are now carving out roles of their own. This allows China to expand Africa engagement beyond megaprojects into more localized, sector-driven collaborations.
For Nigeria, this diversification could bring advantages—Guangxi’s focus on fruit and agriculture aligns with Abuja’s need to strengthen food security, while its mining experience dovetails with Nigeria’s push to revive its solid minerals sector.