China's trade and investment links with Africa and the Middle East are becoming deeper and more mature in a positive manner, with Chinese enterprises active "in all sorts of sectors", ushering in more development opportunities for all, according to a senior executive with Standard Chartered. 

According to Chinese Customs data, China-Middle East trade volume nearly doubled over the 2017 to 2022 period, from $262.5 billion to $507.2 billion. The Middle East is the fastest growing trading partner to China in 2022, up 27.1 percent year-on-year, compared to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (15 percent), the European Union (5.6 percent) and the United States (3.7 percent).

 Trade volume between China and Africa also surged by 14.5 percent on a yearly basis in 2022 to almost 1.9 trillion yuan ($266.3 billion). 

China is currently the largest trading partner for many major economies in the Middle East and Africa, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and South Africa.

Source: China Daily