African tourists in China

Jiang Binbin, a 27-year-old Chinese woman with a passion for travel, ticked off one more box on her bucket list in 2012, when she visited the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

"The natural beauty there is beyond description. It will not be the last place I visit in Africa as I am planning to go to Mozambique and Morocco later this year," Jiang told ChinAfrica.

She is one of the 870,000 Chinese who traveled to Africa in 2012. The rising number of Chinese tourists visiting Africa mirrors the growth of China-Africa service trade in recent years. With the strengthening of China-Africa economic and trade ties and the deepening of bilateral exchanges, trade in services between the two sides is gathering new momentum in Africa, and has expanded to cover the finance, construction, business service, communication, transportation, tourism and healthcare sectors.

A promising sector  

As one of the world's largest industries with strong growth, tourism is a major driver of the global economy. With its distinctive natural landscapes, tourism in Africa has seen remarkable growth over the past few years. According to a report by World Tourism Organization, tourism has become a pillar industry in many African countries. In 2011, the revenue from tourism contributed 9 percent of the East African GDP, 7.2 percent of the North African GDP, 5.6 percent of the West African GDP and 3.9 of southern Africa's GDP.

As exchanges between China and Africa become more frequent, Africa is chosen as a travel destination by more and more Chinese tourists. Statistics in the China-Africa Trade and Economic Relationship Report for 2009-2011, released by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, show that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Africa increased by 38.9 percent year on year to 1.01 million in 2011. The average growth rate of Chinese outbound tourists was 22.4 percent for the same period. The number of African tourists visiting China is also on rise. This figure increased by 18.5 percent, 15.6 percent and 5.4 percent to 401,000, 464,000 and 489,000 in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

"In the long run, service trade in tourism between China and Africa has huge potential," said Yao Guimei, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of West-Asian and African Studies. This tourism boom has attracted more Chinese tourism-related enterprises, such as hotels and catering services, to Africa.

Contracting construction projects is a prominent and competitive sector in China-Africa service trade. "China has rich labor resources and has developed an experienced and professional construction team through years of foreign aid through infrastructure construction. On the other hand, African countries have great demand for construction contracting services as they lack the necessary financing, technology and personnel," Wang Cheng'an, Vice Chairman of China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, told ChinAfrica. He suggests that China should maximize its advantage in construction projects to further advance service trade between China and Africa.

Aviation is another well-developed service industry that plays a prominent role in China-Africa service trade. Since 2006, when China Southern Airlines started offering flights from Beijing to Lagos via Dubai, airlines have added over 10 non-stop flights from China to Africa. At the end of 2011, there were 44 regular flights from China to Africa each week. "Convenience in transportation will facilitate both trade in goods and trade in services," Yao said. She believes that as China-Africa service trade deepens, there will be more cooperation and business opportunities in this sector.