China reroutes trade toward BRICS

Trade is the domain here. Power is the stake. China is not abandoning the West, but it is building a thicker fallback system through BRICS countries and other Global South partners. The clearest new move landed on May 1, when China expanded zero-tariff treatment to all African countries that recognize Beijing — 53 in total, with Eswatini the lone exception because it recognizes Taiwan. ### What actually changed on May 1? China widened a tariff-free import scheme that had already covered 33 African least-developed countries. The new step added 20 more African countries and runs through April 30, 2028. That matters because it opens the Chinese market to nearly the whole continent on preferential terms, and several of those countries now sit inside the expanded BRICS orbit — Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, and partners around them. ### Why does Africa matter so much here? Africa gives China three things at once — export demand, raw materials, and diplomatic ballast. China-Africa trade hit $348 billion in 2025, with Chinese exports at $225 billion and imports at $123 billion. So this is not charity and it is not symbolism. It is a large, fast-growing trade lane that Beijing can deepen while relations with the US and parts of Europe stay tense. ### Is this really a BRICS story? Basically, yes — but not only a BRICS story. BRICS has become the political wrapper for a broader “Global South” trade architecture. The group expanded in 2024 and 2025 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia. That gives China a wider club of energy suppliers, commodity exporters, consumer markets, and governments willing to coordinate outside Western-led institutions. ### What does the finance side look like? Trade rerouting only works if payments and liquidity work too. China and Brazil renewed a bilateral currency swap in May 2025 worth 190 billion yuan, or 157 billion reais, for five years. The two sides also signed cooperation documents covering local currencies, payments, and financial infrastructure. That does not kill the dollar. But it gives major trading partners more ways to settle. ### How big is China’s BRICS trade already? It is not a side project anymore. China’s imports and exports with other BRICS members and partners rose 5.5% in 2024, and customs officials said BRICS countries and partners accounted for roughly 28% of China’s foreign trade in the first half of 2025. China also launched a BRICS trade-development index that reached 301.51 in 2025 planning. ### So is China replacing the US and Europe? No — and that is the catch. The US, EU, and ASEAN still matter enormously to China. This is less a clean pivot than a redundancy plan. Beijing is trying to make sure that if tariffs rise, export controls tighten, or sanctions widen, more of its trade can keep flowing through countries that want Chinese demand, China, who trades with whom, not stopping trade altogether. ### Why does this complicate Western leverage? Because leverage works best when there are no substitutes. If China can buy more inputs from BRICS and African partners, sell more goods into those markets, and settle more transactions through local-currency arrangements, Western pressure loses some bite at the margin. Not all of it — but some. That is especially true in commodities, logistics corridors, and mid-tier manufacturing supply chains. ### Bottom line? China is building trade shock absorbers. The new Africa tariff move is the freshest proof, but the bigger picture is a mesh of BRICS expansion, commodity ties, and payment channels designed to make Chinese trade harder to isolate.