Ethiopian coffee attracts large crowds of local visitors for tastings at the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, on June 14, 2025. Photo: VCG

China's customs authority has clarified that coffee beans from African countries that have diplomatic relations with China can be exported to the Chinese market once they meet relevant requirements, without the need for China to negotiate quarantine rules or sign market access protocols with each country separately.

The clarification was made on Wednesday by an official with the Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine under the General Administration of Customs (GAC) in response to questions about China's decision to grant full quarantine access to coffee beans from all African countries with diplomatic ties with China starting July 20.

Customs authorities have continued to strengthen communication and cooperation with the competent authorities of African countries that have diplomatic ties with China, while applying risk-based management to quarantine access, according to a statement issued on the GAC's official WeChat account.

The GAC has also upgraded the "green channel" for African agricultural and food products entering China, further accelerating quarantine access for such products while ensuring safety, the official said.

Coffee beans, a distinctive African agricultural product and an important pillar industry for many African economies, have become the latest agricultural product after dried chili to receive full quarantine access covering all African countries with diplomatic ties with China.

Coffee beans from Ethiopia, Burundi and other African countries have already obtained quarantine access to China, while Mauritius, Angola, Togo, Guinea, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe and other African countries have successively applied to export coffee beans to China, the GAC official said.

In line with relevant laws, regulations and international standards, the GAC organized experts to conduct a comprehensive assessment of coffee cultivation, production and processing in African countries. The assessment found that coffee beans from the region face broadly similar pest risks and are subject to comparable risk-control measures, according to the customs authority.

On that basis, China developed unified entry plant quarantine requirements covering plantation management, registration of processing enterprises, export inspection and quarantine, and the issuance of phytosanitary certificates.

"Coffee beans from African countries with diplomatic ties with China can be exported to China as long as they meet the relevant requirements, without the need for China to negotiate quarantine rules or sign access protocols with the competent authorities of each country separately," the statement noted.

Going forward, other African countries with diplomatic ties with China that intend to export coffee beans to the Chinese market will be able to do so once they meet China's unified quarantine requirements, the GAC official said, adding that "the measure is expected to inject fresh momentum into Africa's agricultural development and deepen practical China-Africa cooperation in agricultural trade."

The GAC will continue to implement the upgraded "green channel" facilitation measures, helping more high-quality and safe African agricultural and food products enter the Chinese market, sharing development opportunities with African countries and offering Chinese consumers more diversified choices.

China on May 1 began extending zero-tariff treatment to all 53 African countries having diplomatic relations with China, marking a major step in the country's firm efforts to expand high-level opening-up and advance voluntary opening-up.

China-Africa trade hit a record high in the first four months of this year, exceeding 800 billion yuan ($110 billion) for the first time, official data showed. China's imports from Africa rose 11.2 percent, marking the eighth straight month of year-on-year growth.

Asked about this momentum on May 19, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that "under the framework of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, China Africa cooperation across the board has been flourishing, giving a strong boost to industrialization and agricultural modernization in African countries and delivering tangible benefits to the African people. "

Global Times