2003: At the second Ministerial Conference of FOCAC, China proposed granting zero-tariff treatment to certain products exported to China from Africa’s least developed countries. 

2005: China officially began implementing zero tariffs for Africa’s least developed countries, initially covering 194 tariff lines across 25 African countries. 

2006: The scope of eligible products expanded to 478 tariff lines, mainly covering agricultural products, raw materials and primary manufactured goods. 

2010: In July, the coverage was further expanded to more than 4,700 tariff lines, benefitting 26 least developed countries in Africa and accounting for around 60 percent of their exports to China. 

2022-2023: Between September 2022 and December 2023, China granted zero-tariff treatment to 98 percent of tariff lines to exports from 27 African countries in four batches, covering more than 8,000 tariff categories. 

2024: In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the FOCAC Summit in Beijing that, from 1 December 2024, China would extend zero-tariff treatment to 100 percent of tariff lines for all least developed countries with which it has diplomatic relations, including 33 African countries. 

2025: In June, at the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of FOCAC, China announced that it would extend zero-tariff treatment to 100 percent of tariff lines for 53 African countries with diplomatic relations.  

2026: In February, in a congratulatory message to the 39th African Union Summit, President Xi Jinping announced that China would fully implement the zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries from 1 May 2026.