In 2026, China’s foreign trade delivered a brilliant “mid-year report card.”
According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs, in the first five months of this year, the total value of China’s goods trade imports and exports reached 20.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.3% year-on-year. In May alone, the total import and export value of goods trade was 4.45 trillion yuan, up 16.9% year-on-year, with the monthly import and export scale steadily breaking the 4-trillion-yuan mark for three consecutive months, maintaining a sound and improving development momentum. Amid a complex environment marked by frequent global trade frictions and an overall slowdown in external demand, China’s foreign trade has grown against the trend, displaying the distinct features of rising total volume, optimized structure, and diversified markets.
Behind the continuously strengthening import and export data lies the irreplaceable resilience and competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing in the global supply chain. So, where exactly does this outstanding “scorecard” come from? What profound transformations are taking place in the globalization pathways of Chinese foreign trade enterprises?
I. Foreign Trade “Acceleration”: Dual-Wheel Drive Highlights China’s Resilience
A closer look at the trade data for the first five months of 2026 reveals that the simultaneous acceleration of both exports and imports formed the core support for growth. On the export side, the export value of 11.91 trillion yuan in the first five months rose by 11.8% year-on-year, with high-tech and high-value-added mechanical and electrical product exports reaching 7.58 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.4%, accounting for 63.6% of total export value. On the import side, cumulative imports in the first five months reached 8.77 trillion yuan, a rise of 20.5% year-on-year; May imports alone grew by 21.5%, registering year-on-year growth of over 20% for three consecutive months.
International markets have paid close attention to China’s foreign trade performance. Foreign media such as Reuters and DPA commented that China’s “trade engine is revving up”, with multiple data points “steadily strengthening”, and the impressive performance has bolstered market confidence in China’s high-quality economic development. Against a backdrop of increasing uncertainty and risks in international trade, China has become the “stabilizing anchor” and “engine of growth” for global trade.
Particularly noteworthy is the remarkable expansion into the African market. In the first five months of 2026, China’s imports and exports to African countries surpassed the 1-trillion-yuan mark for the first time in history for the same period. China-Africa trade volume climbed rapidly from a base value of 100 points in 2000, with trade volume already reaching $295.5 billion in 2024** and further growing to **$348 billion in 2025. Starting from May 1, 2026, China fully implemented a zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, injecting new momentum into deepening China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.
The confidence behind the sustained high-level performance of foreign trade is rooted in China’s solid economic fundamentals and complete industrial system. At the same time, the strong vitality of the vast domestic demand market has also become a solid backing for stable foreign trade growth. The import growth rate was notably higher than the export growth rate, with domestic production demand and consumption upgrade demand recovering vigorously, providing a broad market for global commodities.
II. Exhibitions: The “Strategic Springboard” for Chinese Enterprises Going to Africa
The booming development of China-Africa trade has opened vast imaginative space for countless Chinese enterprises. However, for Chinese manufacturing companies located thousands of miles away, how can they precisely enter the African market, establish reliable channel networks, and negotiate face-to-face with genuine buyers? In this regard, professional exhibition companies are playing an indispensable role as “connectors” and “accelerators.”
Take Wansheng Exhibition (Zhongshan Wansheng Exhibition Co., Ltd.), a professional exhibition institution deeply engaged in the international exhibition field for twenty years, as an example. Since its establishment, the company has been consistently committed to promoting China’s foreign trade. Its core business covers representing overseas renowned international exhibitions, planning and organizing international professional exhibitions, organizing overseas business inspection tours for enterprises, and assisting enterprises in applying for overseas market development funds for small and medium-sized enterprises, among other diversified fields. After years of development, Wansheng Exhibition’s service capabilities have elevated from initially “following” to “leading” and “creating,” making it a leading exhibition organizer in the field of international LED lighting exhibitions.
Wansheng Exhibition specializes in exhibition agency services in the two major fields of global lighting and electric power energy, covering world-renowned exhibitions such as Light + Building in Frankfurt, Germany, and LightFair International in Las Vegas, USA. Its business network covers more than 50 countries and regions, building a solid bridge connecting Chinese manufacturing with the global market.
Among numerous overseas markets, Africa, and especially the Nigerian market, is becoming a strategic priority for Wansheng Exhibition’s layout. The Nigeria International Lighting Expo, whose opening ceremony was graced by the Consul General of China in Lagos, has received high-level official attention and has become an iconic platform for Chinese enterprises entering the West African market. Exhibitors have commented that their booths were “crowded with visitors,” allowing them to connect with large numbers of high-quality new customers such as wholesalers and engineering contractors, and obtain over a hundred valid inquiries and substantial orders. Built on this continuously accumulated reputation, the exhibitor satisfaction rate for this expo has long been maintained above 90%.
III. Nigeria International Lighting Expo: The “Golden Key” to the West African Market
The 2026 Nigeria International Lighting Expo will be held from September 16 to 18 at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, the economic hub of Nigeria. The expo is the only professional exhibition in West Africa focusing on the entire lighting industry chain, jointly organized by Wansheng Exhibition and Zhongsheng International Business.
The exhibition area of this edition will reach 10,000 square meters, expected to attract over 200 high-quality exhibitors, gathering well-known domestic and international brands such as AKT, CTORCH, OBST, BLUE CARBON, and VANGE. Exhibitors will come from 28 countries and regions, precisely matching with over 8,000 professional buyers. The expo’s market radiation covers multiple countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), helping enterprises realize the strategic layout of “establishing a foothold in Nigeria and deeply cultivating the West African market.”
The enormous potential of the Nigerian market is the fundamental reason attracting active participation from Chinese enterprises. As Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria has a total population exceeding 230 million. Rapid population growth drives demand for housing, infrastructure, and public services, directly boosting the consumption of lighting products. Meanwhile, Nigeria faces a huge infrastructure gap, with only 55.4% of the population connected to the power grid, and rural coverage as low as 34%. Demand for off-grid lighting has surged, making solar-powered LEDs, wide-voltage LED luminaires, and smart control lighting systems rigid market demands. Chinese products, with their high cost-effectiveness and localized adaptation, have already captured over 60% of the local market share.
At the policy level, the Nigerian government is vigorously promoting infrastructure construction. Import tariffs on LED components are only 10% (compared to 20% for finished products), and the Ogun Free Trade Zone offers tax exemption policies, attracting Chinese enterprises to set up factories locally. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Nigeria continues to deepen; China is Nigeria’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching nearly $220 billion in 2024** and expected to exceed **$250 billion in 2025. Under the framework of national policies, cooperation between China and Nigeria in infrastructure, energy, and lighting continues to deepen, providing a favorable policy environment for Chinese enterprises to explore the market.
The commercial conversion efficiency of the expo is evident to all. The Nigeria International Lighting Expo is not only a product showcase platform but also a distribution hub for channel relationships. A seasoned exhibitor shared that during a short week-long exhibition period, he accumulated information on dozens of local distributors, noting key business details such as payment terms and willingness to cooperate. This “post-expo asset” was subsequently transformed into a stable stream of African orders. At the expo site, large importing companies from Lagos, with their assistants, appeared punctually at the booths of partner enterprises to negotiate new products, behind which lay control of channel resources spanning over 200 secondary wholesalers and community stores. Chinese lighting brands like CTORCH and OBST have established stable channels precisely through this platform, becoming mainstream choices in the Nigerian market.
IV. New Energy & Power Expo: The “Synergy” of Energy and Lighting
The 2026 Nigeria International New Energy & Power Industry Expo, held concurrently with the Nigeria International Lighting Expo, jointly creates a dual-theme linked exhibition of “Electric Power Energy + Lighting”, achieving resource sharing and visitor crossover, forming a large-scale full-industry-chain showcase platform for energy and lighting in West Africa.
The Nigeria International New Energy & Power Industry Expo is a leading energy event in West Africa. The 12th edition in 2025, themed “Powering Nigeria through Investment, Innovation, and Partnerships,” attracted over 200 exhibiting enterprises and more than 15,000 professional visitors, bringing together industry elites such as energy commissioners, developers, regulators, financial institutions, and cutting-edge technology providers. The expo covers six core areas including energy consumption and management, smart metering and solutions, renewable energy, off-grid systems, and energy efficiency, and has received official support from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Power.
The concurrent holding of the two expos generates a significant synergistic effect. For lighting enterprises, especially solar lighting companies, this means the opportunity to connect with highly relevant clients in the energy industry all at once, achieving a “1+1>2” value-added effect and greatly enhancing the comprehensive value of participation. Exhibiting enterprises can engage in one-stop matchmaking with upstream and downstream clients in energy, energy storage, and smart grids, completing a full closed loop from technology display to project implementation. In 2026, the expo will be held from October 27 to 29 at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, where over a hundred exhibitors from countries and regions including China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and South Africa will compete and participate.
V. Riding the Trend: Pathway Insights for Chinese Enterprises Going Global in the New Era
From the excellent foreign trade performance of exceeding the 4-trillion-yuan mark for three consecutive months, to the hands-on globalization practices of Chinese enterprises taking root in the African continent, a picture of Chinese manufacturing integrating into the global industrial chain and reconstructing new international competitive advantages is gradually unfolding.
Within this, the high-quality development of China’s foreign trade presents a clear evolutionary path: moving from traditional product exports to a new phase of brand exporting, standard setting, and deep localized operations. Chinese enterprises are no longer just “selling goods overseas”; instead, through professional exhibition platforms, they deeply understand the needs of target markets, carry out product adaptability innovations tailored to local power environments and climatic conditions, establish long-term cooperative relationships with local distributors, and even directly invest in factories in Africa and participate in government infrastructure projects. From wide-voltage LED modules designed for Nigeria’s voltage fluctuations, to anti-salt-spray housings adapted to high-temperature and high-humidity climates, to integrated solar + energy storage solutions, the product competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing is winning broad recognition in the international market.
The explosive growth of the African market coincides with an industrial upgrading wave where China’s “new three” items (such as photovoltaic products) are taking over from traditional manufacturing, and industrial robot exports continue to climb. Enterprises like China Power Construction Corporation and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation have successfully connected with government projects through the exhibition platform, implementing rural solar lighting projects and urban streetlight network construction. Initiatives such as the “Light Up Abuja” plan are allowing “Chinese Light” to illuminate the African continent.
At the historic milestone of the 25th anniversary of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is advancing to a higher stage of capacity co-building, technology interflow, and mutually beneficial empowerment. For the vast number of Chinese enterprises, professional exhibition service providers represented by Wansheng Exhibition are becoming a “high-speed expressway to the global market” connecting Chinese manufacturing with the world. Whether it is lighting enterprises laying out the blue ocean market of West Africa, or new energy companies seizing the opportunity in Africa’s energy transition, professional exhibitions will serve as the most reliable partner on the journey abroad. September 16-18, 2026, Lagos, Nigeria — an “African Opportunity” concerning light and electricity awaits the arrival of Chinese enterprises.
