A new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) highlights concerns over China's growing engagement with Africa in relation to this new agreement.

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba visited China last week and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both sides agreed to bolster trade and investment, and strengthen cooperation in environment and infrastructure.

The Chinese government announced that three more African least developed countries (LDCs), Burundi, Ethiopia, and Niger, will benefit from zero tariffs for 98% of tariff lines when exporting to China, starting in March.

The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee held a hearing yesterday on "Combatting the Economic Threat from China." Issues that were discussed at the hearing included: bilateral trade, outbound and inbound investment related to China, Chinese lending, TikTok, and China's presence in Latin American

Earlier this month, China's customs agency announced that it started allowing seafood from the Union of Comoros (a small country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa). The move is unlikely to change the bilateral trade patterns in the short term, and may be more important as

U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen's recent statements on China being a "barrier" to resolving the debt issues in Zambia provoked a harsh response from the Chinese government.

This week, China's new Foreign Minister Qin Gang is visiting Africa to "deepen the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership and boost friendly cooperation between China and Africa."