China in Côte d'Ivoire

Relations between Côte d'Ivoire and China were not normalized until 1983. It was one of the last countries in Africa to do so. In connection to the FOCAC 2006 China expressed that it was ready for a deepened cooperation on economy and trade and stronger bilateral friendly ties. An agreement on economic and technological cooperation was signed a few months later, in 2007. And then in March this year, the two countries celebrated their 25 years of diplomatic relations.

The main export commodity in Côte d’Ivoire is cocoa in raw form or refined, accounting for more than 55% of the country’s exports. However, Chinese imports are mainly cotton, but trade between the two is negligible. In 2006 China imported 3000 bbl/d of oil from Côte d’Ivoire, which can be put in to context when compared to the imports from Angola, China’s largest African oil supplier, wherefrom China imported 650,000 bbl/d (Dec. 2007).