First of all, please allow me to pay respects to:
His Majesty King Letsie III,
The Right Honorable Prime Minister,
Honorable President of the Senate,
Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly,
His Lordship the Chief Justice,
Honorable Deputy Prime Minister,
Honorable Cabinet Ministers, especially
Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition,
All government officials,
Friends from Media Houses,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to today’s briefing on China’s zero-tariff policy.

Since 2005, China has granted zero-tariff treatment to certain products from the least developed countries, including African nations. As China advances its opening-up, the scope of products eligible for zero-tariff treatment has been expanded continuously. China has already scrapped tariffs on 100 percent of tariff lines for 33 least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa since December 1, 2024. On February 14, 2026, in his congratulatory message to the 39th African Union Summit, President Xi Jinping announced that China will fully implement zero-tariff treatment for 53 African countries that have established diplomatic relations with China. At the same time, China will continue to promote the negotiation and signing of the agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development and further expand access for African products exported to China by upgrading the "green channel" and other measures.

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. In the face of such a changing and turbulent international landscape, China remains firmly committed to safeguarding world peace, advancing common development, and building a community with a shared future for humanity. The zero-tariff policy represents a new step in China's efforts to expand high-standard opening up, which will surely provide new opportunities for Africa's development and for China and Africa to jointly pursue the dream of modernization. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The zero-tariff policy is an innovative measure introduced by China in the course of negotiating the agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development with African countries having diplomatic relations with China that are not classified as least developed countries. It is intended to address the practical difficulties faced by relevant African countries in concluding negotiations with China within a short period of time. African countries will still need to continue advancing negotiations with China on the agreement in order to secure long-term, stable and institutionalized access to zero-tariff treatment.

The continued advancement of negotiating the agreement will enable both preferential treatment and market access commitments to be realized in a manner consistent with WTO rules. The agreement will not only systematically address the tariff-related concerns of African countries, but also respond to their expectations in areas such as reducing non-tariff barriers, enhancing trade facilitation and boosting investment. It constitutes an important measure to deepen mutually beneficial China-Africa cooperation, inject strong momentum into China-Africa trade and investment cooperation as well as Africa’s economic modernization, and advance the joint building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China is Africa's largest trading partner. According to China's General Administration of Customs, China-Africa trade hit a record high of 348 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. Of this total, China's imports from Africa amounted to 123 billion dollars, an increase of 5.4 percent year on year.

The zero-tariff policy will create new opportunities for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

First, the policy will lend a competitive edge to African products such as cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, coffee and avocados from Kenya, and citrus fruits and wine from South Africa, which used to face tariffs ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent.

Second, zero tariffs will help encourage China and other trading partners to increase investment in Africa, bringing capital, technology, equipment and management expertise to process African specialty products locally. It will also make China-Africa trade more balanced and its growth more sustainable.

Third, the policy will diversify Africa’s export products, raise product added value, optimize the export structure, and benefit a large number of smallholder farmers as well as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by creating jobs and improving livelihoods.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lesotho is among the countries that began benefiting from China’s zero-tariff policy at an early stage. In 2007, China has granted zero-tariff treatment to 454 categories of products exported from Lesotho to China, facilitating the access of Lesotho’s products to the Chinese market. China has also offered various preferential terms and conveniences for Lesotho business delegates to participate in major international expos, including the China International Import Expo, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and  China Import and Export Fair. 

In recent years, China-Lesotho trade has remained stable at around US$100 million annually. Wool and mohair constitute the major exports of Lesotho to China. There remains enormous room for growth in both trade volume and product diversity between our two countries. We are confident that, the implementation of the zero-tariff policy in Lesotho will enable more products from Lesotho to enter the Chinese market, thus helping Basotho enterprises grow and thrive through China-Lesotho trade cooperation. And more people in Lesotho will benefit from expanded employment opportunities, higher incomes and improved living standards arising from the development of bilateral trade.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In January this year, H.E. Wang Yi paid an official visit to Lesotho, marking a new milestone in China-Lesotho relations. At the same time, bilateral cooperation has gotten off to a strong start this year and continues to achieve positive progress. I would like to highlight a few of the fruitful outcomes of our bilateral cooperation.

China announced a new grant of RMB 100 million (approximately 250 million Maloti), marking the second such grant since the FOCAC Beijing Summit. On April 8, our two sides signed an exchange of letters on food aid, and the food aid provided by China is expected to be delivered to the Lesotho side within the year. Shortly afterwards, we signed the Protocol on Waiving Partial Loans of the Government of Lesotho on April 9, and two interest-free loans of RMB 89.976 million (approximately 214 million Maloti) were exempted.

We have also noted that Lesotho confirmed an outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease earlier this year and subsequently declared a national state of disaster in April. Since then, we have maintained close communication and coordination with the General Administration of Customs of China. We look forward to the early completion of the relevant risk assessment process, with a view to resolving the issue of wool and mohair currently stranded in South Africa at an early date and further promoting the sustained and orderly development of wool trade between China and Lesotho.

As a good friend and good partner of Lesotho, when you are in need, please believe that we are right here waiting for you! We will always extend a helping hand in a timely manner, stand together with our Basotho friends to overcome present difficulties, and move together toward a brighter future.

Thank you.