China Africa Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Cornered by climate change, land degradation, severe water stresses and an influx of pests, a growing number of African countries, including Ghana, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, have turned to Chinese-made agricultural drones to boost precision agriculture.

This form of farming maximizes crop production and the efficient use of scarce resources amidst crippling economic pressures. 

Chinese-manufactured tools are helping farmers in Africa reduce water consumption as well as pesticide and fertilizer use significantly.

From the "old three" exports of clothing, furniture, and appliances, to the 2023 "new three" of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells, China entered a new industrial evolution in the first half of 2026, now defined by its newest industrial champions: robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and innovative drugs.

China now commands at least 97 percent of global humanoid robot shipments. Its AI products, such as drones, are a more affordable and highly capable option for resource-constrained African countries. In 2026, Chinese biotech innovation is highly notable and impactful in Africa. 

Chinese-made industrial hardware and robotic arms are extensively used in Africa, South America and the Middle East. China's new technologies are a demonstration of the best from the eastern country and their acceptance globally. 

There is a notable recognition in developing countries that China's industrial evolution is not simply a shift in labels from furniture to robotics, but a highly strategic economic shift from exporting physical goods to knowledge-based technological capabilities in keeping with modern times.

In the first five months of 2026, China exported 10.377 million robot units worth around $3 billion across the world. China is helping Africa break through its own industrialization through research and scientific collaboration, such as joint laboratories and technology transfer.

Leveraging advances in medical robotics delivered through various China-Africa technology transfer, China's Health Silk Road is enabling Africa's resource-constrained health systems to use minimally invasive tools to deliver quality health services.

The China-Africa Robotic Surgery Training Center and the China-Africa Endoscopic Technology Training Center are highly advanced specialized training and regional hubs, helping push the continent away from short-term to long-term disease control partnerships.

China's new industrial era is not only defined by the magnitude of Chinese-manufactured products in use across Africa's farms, schools, roads, hospitals and households, but also by the deliberate effort to build Africa's capacity toward local manufacturing. 

This is highly transformative, as Africa has historically imported at least 70 percent of its essential medicine and nearly all of its vaccines. Today, China is either solely or collaboratively building, furnishing and equipping local drug manufacturing plants. 

The goal is to manufacture products in Africa, designed with local realities in mind, for use in Africa. In Ethiopia, a Chinese firm is producing large quantities of IV bags, injectables and essential generics in the form of oral solid tablets to meet the increasing domestic demand for these life-saving clinical products.  

By a wide margin, Africa is the region most affected by malaria, accounting for nearly 95 percent of all malaria cases and 95 percent of all malaria deaths globally. 
Today, China is equipping African public health officials with AI-enabled tools for disease surveillance, tracking and outbreak prediction.

In response to the deadliest diseases on the continent, Chinese pharmaceutical footprints and innovation include partnerships with local companies in Nigeria to produce HIV treatment, and in Cote d'Ivoire to increase production of antimalarial and antibiotics to up to 5 million tablets annually.

Today, in this new phase of China's new technologies - shifting away from the original "old three" of clothing, furniture, and appliances to the 2023 "new three" of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells, and the new technologies in 2026 - practical lessons for Africa's own path to lasting industrialization abound, if one knows where to look. 

The author is a Kenya-based journalist. She regularly writes articles for media outlets including the Global Times. The article was originally published in Kenyan media The Star. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn