The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau says bilateral trade with China and the China Zero-Tariff will give exporters certainty beyond 2028 with safeguards that will protect South African industry and jobs. Tau was speaking during the Briefing Reception on China’s Zero-Tariff Treatment to African Countries hosted today in Pretoria.
According to Tau, diversifying South Africa’s markets is how the government plans to protect South African jobs in an uncertain world. He said predictable market access gives investors the confidence to build production in South Africa.
“That is what we want as a country, not only more trade, but more factories, more processing and more jobs here at home. Today’s gathering, which is a briefing reception on China, is also aimed at raising awareness of the tariff measure and providing a structured platform to address questions from South African businesses,” he said.
Tau said the Zero-Tariff Treatment policy for South Africa means the country is implementing a unilateral preference scheme by China granting duty-free market access for 100% of the products, with exception of 47 tariff lines subject to tariff rate quota.
“This was announced by President Xi on 14 February 2026 in his congratulatory message to the African Union Summit. South African products that meet the rules of origin can enter the Chinese market without customs duties. From 1 June to 31 August, SARS has issued 25 975 certificates of origin. Customs declarations rose by 199 percent. Our export-promotion programme with China is moving beyond individual events. We intend to use a series of strategic trade fairs, targeted outward selling missions, hosted buyer missions and direct business-to-business engagements to advance clearly identified commercial opportunities,” he said.
Tau indicated that South Africa is in the final stages of negotiating China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development. He said this is an agreement that will provide for South Africa and China to negotiate Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and agreement covering trade, investment, infrastructure and logistics, small businesses, and industrial development.
“It also forms the basis for negotiation of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)-China Early Harvest Arrangement. The reciprocal trade arrangement between SACU and China currently under negotiations, which is meant to preserve the zero-tariff arrangement for long-term for SACU countries,” Tau said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, South Africa.