China highly values and supports Africa's peace and development, and stands ready to work with African countries to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in small arms and light weapons control, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
A Training-of-Trainers capacity building program on small arms and light weapons for the African Great Lakes Region started in Beijing on Tuesday.
The training program, jointly organized by China and the United Nations, aims to help African countries enhance their small arms and light weapons control capabilities, and support the African Union's "Silencing the Guns in Africa" initiative, Lin said.
"China has always attached great importance to and actively supported peace and development in Africa. Cooperation with African countries on small arms and light weapons control is an important part of the 'ten partnership actions' for China and Africa to jointly advance modernization, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping. It is also one of the key areas of the Global Security Initiative. China possesses a comprehensive set of policies and measures for small arms and light weapons control, and has been one of the countries with the lowest incidence of gun and explosive-related violent crimes in the world for many consecutive years. We are willing to continuously strengthen exchanges and cooperation with African countries in this regard, and support them in achieving peace, stability, development and prosperity," Lin said.
China highly values, supports Africa's peace, development: spokesman
The resilience of China's bulk commodity market is coming into sharper focus as market expectations improve and industry operations hold steady, despite global economic and geopolitical headwinds, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said in a report released on Tuesday.
Against a backdrop of mounting macroeconomic headwinds, intensifying external shocks, and persistent market fragmentation, China's bulk commodity market has distinguished itself through rising trade resilience and accelerated capacity building -- the defining features of its performance through 2025 and into 2026, according to the report.
Industry experts said that the global economy is undergoing its most profound restructuring in decades. Geopolitical friction, wild market swings, and other intertwined factors have thrust the bulk commodity sector into uncharted waters. Yet China possesses the world's largest demand market for bulk commodities, a complete manufacturing system, a robust port and logistics network, and increasingly sophisticated futures and financial markets -- all of which form a solid foundation for weathering external shocks.
Despite unprecedented economic uncertainties, the report said, China's goods trade maintained strong resilience in 2025, with imports of major bulk commodities staying at elevated levels. Crude oil, iron ore, soybeans, and other key varieties continued to register large import volumes, underscoring the country's enduring capacity to absorb global supplies.
In May, China's bulk commodity price index stood at 132.5, up 0.3 percent month-on-month -- marking the third consecutive monthly increase and providing clear evidence that market expectations are steadily rebounding and the sector is improving on a stable footing.
Looking further ahead, the report said that competition in global commodity will increasingly play out across four interconnected arenas: data, carbon, finance, and regulatory frameworks.
"Going forward, China's bulk commodity sector must translate its scale advantage into greater influence over global resource allocation, and steer its trade and business models toward integrated supply chain services that cover the entire industrial chain. That means connecting the full loop of digitalization, logistics, capital flow, and billing, while raising the industry's level of specialization and compliance," said He Hui, vice president of the CFLP.
China's bulk commodity market stays resilient amid external headwinds: report
