China is set to grant duty-free market access to selected South African products under a trade agreement currently being finalised, as Pretoria accelerates efforts to diversify export markets amid strained relations with the United States.
South Africa’s trade ministry confirmed that Trade Minister Parks Tau is travelling to China to sign the agreement, which will provide preferential access for certain South African exports to the Chinese market while also encouraging increased Chinese investment. The ministry did not disclose which sectors will benefit from the arrangement.
China has emerged as South Africa’s largest single-country trading partner, overtaking the European Union in 2023. South African exports to China are largely driven by minerals and agricultural products, sectors expected to gain significantly from reduced tariffs in the world’s second-largest economy.
The agreement comes at a sensitive time for South Africa’s external trade relations. Ties with the United States, South Africa’s second-largest trading partner by country, have deteriorated over the past year amid diplomatic and geopolitical tensions. In August, Washington imposed tariffs of up to 30% on certain South African goods, raising concerns within government and industry that export-dependent jobs could be at risk.
Efforts by Pretoria to renegotiate trade terms with the US have so far yielded limited progress, increasing uncertainty over South Africa’s future access to US-backed trade frameworks. The duty-free deal with China is therefore seen as part of a broader recalibration of South Africa’s foreign economic policy, with greater emphasis on non-Western partners including China, BRICS countries and the wider Global South.
Officials say improved access to the Chinese market could help South Africa reduce its reliance on Western economies, stabilise export revenues and support investment in manufacturing and value-added industries. As uncertainty persists around US trade policy, South Africa appears increasingly focused on expanding alternative pathways for trade and investment growth.
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