China to deepen its ties with Uganda

• Ahead of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar, Senegal, Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Lizhong in  Kampala said that China proposes to strengthen cooperation with Uganda particularly in digital economy, digital infrastructure, digital education, digital inclusiveness and digital security.
• Lizhong also urged Uganda to increase its exports to the China by fully utilizing the 97% products tariff-free treatment granted by China to expand its exports.

Ahead of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar, Senegal, Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Lizhong in  Kampala said that China proposes to strengthen cooperation with Uganda particularly in digital economy, digital infrastructure, digital education, digital inclusiveness and digital security. He cited the tremendous growth of China’s digital economy that recorded a growth rate of 9.7% despite the pandemic and global economic downturn while IDES-Uganda statistics showed that only 26% of Ugandans were covered by digital-aided services and economic activities.

Lizhong also urged Uganda to increase its exports to China by fully utilizing the 97% products tariff-free treatment granted by China to expand its exports. Uganda’s exports to China consisting mainly of unprocessed agricultural products stood at US$40million in 2020 against US$0.28million in 2000. At the same time, China’s exports to Uganda increased from US$31.4million to US$ 1,094.78million during the same period.

He urged the private sector to play a bigger role and identified poverty reduction, food security, COVID-19 response and vaccines, investment and trade, industrialization, connectivity, climate changes, digital innovation and human resources as key areas of cooperation.