Nigeria Records 81% Growth in Exports to China
Nigeria’s exports to China increased by 81 per cent to $2.25 billion in the first half of 2026, while total trade between both countries rose by 35 per cent to $17.4 billion. The Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria and Director of the China Cultural Centre, Yang Jiaxing, disclosed the figures in Abuja during the 2026 launch of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) China-Nigeria Bridge Programme. He attributed the growth to expanding economic relations and said China’s zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries, including Nigeria, which took effect in May 2026, was expected to create more opportunities for Nigerian exports. Yang added that imports from Nigeria recorded year-on-year growth of more than 40 per cent in both May and June.
Yang described the China-Nigeria Bridge Programme, jointly initiated by the Chinese Embassy, Xinhua News Agency’s Africa Regional Bureau and VON, as a platform for strengthening cultural understanding and media cooperation. VON Director-General Jibrin Baba Ndace, represented by the Director of General Services, Danladi Abubakar, said the introduction of Mandarin as the organisation’s ninth broadcast language would help promote Nigeria’s culture, tourism and business opportunities to Chinese-speaking audiences. He said the initiative followed agreements reached at the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, alongside subsequent media cooperation agreements signed in 2026. The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Press Council, Dili Ezughah, described the programme as a boost to cultural diplomacy and urged the partners to sustain it through initiatives that promote mutual understanding and stronger people-to-people relations.
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