At the Summer Davos in Dalian, Premier Li Qiang argued that what some call "China Shock 2.0" should instead be viewed as "China Opportunity 2.0".

China-Africa energy cooperation offers a compelling example. While some Western countries see China's strength in solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles as a competitive threat, many African countries see the same technologies as an opportunity to expand electricity access, accelerate industrialization and create jobs.

Recent customs data offer a revealing hint about the future of China-Africa economic cooperation. In April, China's exports of solar cells and panels to African countries rose 83 percent year-on-year, reaching 123,787 metric tons.

The figure matters not only because it shows strong demand for Chinese clean-energy products, but because it points to a larger opportunity: solar trade can become a foundation for Africa's industrial transformation.

This is a timely moment to think beyond exports alone. China's imports and exports with African countries reached 885.34 billion yuan (0.43 billion) in the first four months of 2026, up 19.4 percent year-on-year.

At the same time, nearly 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity. The World Bank and African Development Bank's Mission 300 initiative aims to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030.

These figures should be read together. Africa not only needs more solar panels; it needs reliable power systems that can support factories, cold chains, digital services, schools, hospitals and modern agriculture. This is where China Opportunity 2.0 becomes tangible. China's manufacturing scale, project experience and clean-energy technology can help turn Africa's solar potential into industrial capacity.

The complementarity is clear: Africa has rich solar resources, a young labor force and urgent development needs, while China offers affordable solar technology, battery supply chains, engineering companies and infrastructure experience. The task is to connect these strengths so that more value can be created within African economies.

This requires moving from simple trade to an ecosystem approach. Panels matter, but they do not solve energy deficits or industrial bottlenecks alone.

Cooperation should include storage, mini-grids, grid upgrades, smart meters, maintenance, technician training and project finance. A solar project should build local skills, reliable operation and productive use of electricity.

The key concept is "productive use". Electricity access is often discussed in household terms, and rightly so. Lighting, refrigeration, mobile charging and clean cooking improve daily life. But the bigger development dividend comes when power enables income generation.

The International Energy Agency notes that productive users can help make mini-grid projects more commercially viable, while demand-stimulation programs can support solar water pumps, cold storage and small enterprises.

This is where China-Africa cooperation can make a distinctive contribution. Many African countries are trying to move up the value chain, process more of their raw materials locally and make better use of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The World Bank has argued that deeper AfCFTA implementation can support higher incomes, job creation, intra-African exports and diversification into new industries. Affordable renewable power can support that agenda. A factory that cannot count on electricity cannot compete. A logistics hub without cold storage cannot support high-value food exports. A mining region without power will struggle to process minerals locally.

The 2024 FOCAC Beijing Summit already set the direction.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2025-27) states China will provide new energy technologies and products, implement 30 clean-energy and green-development projects, and establish a Special Fund for China-Africa Green Industrial Chain.

It also calls for photovoltaic demonstration projects, distributed photovoltaic energy-storage systems and large clean-energy power generation projects in Africa. The next step is implementation with measurable industrial outcomes.

A practical agenda could begin with three priorities.

First, solar projects should be linked to local economic anchors. Instead of building generation capacity in isolation, projects can be designed around industrial parks, agricultural belts, ports, mines, data centers and urban service zones.

This improves the bankability of projects because there is a clear demand for power, while also ensuring that energy investment feeds directly into economic growth.

Second, China and African partners should expand training and maintenance capacity. Solar technology is easier to deploy than many conventional energy systems, but it still requires skilled installation, grid integration, storage management and after-sales service.

Training African engineers, technicians and entrepreneurs would make projects more sustainable and create a local services industry around clean energy.

Third, financing should become more flexible. Africa's energy challenge cannot be solved solely through sovereign borrowing. More blended finance, public-private partnerships, local-currency instruments and risk-sharing mechanisms are needed. Chinese banks, African development finance institutions and global partners can work together to make smaller distributed renewable projects as bankable as large infrastructure schemes.

There is also room for carefully designed local manufacturing. Not every African country needs to manufacture solar panels from scratch, and forced localization can raise costs.

However, some parts of the value chain, including mounting systems, cables, assembly, installation services, batteries, recycling and maintenance, can be developed where market scale and policy conditions allow. The aim should be realistic industrial upgrading, not symbolic factories.

The recent surge in solar exports should therefore be welcomed, but not treated as an end in itself. It is a starting point. The true promise of China-Africa solar cooperation lies in turning equipment flows into power systems, power systems into industrial clusters, and industrial clusters into jobs.

For China, this would show that its green technology is not only competitive, but also developmental. For Africa, it would mean that the continent's sunshine becomes more than a natural advantage; it becomes an economic asset.

The next chapter of China-Africa economic cooperation may well be written in solar power. But its success will be measured by what that power makes possible.

The author is a senior lecturer at Kent Business School, University of Kent, UK, and s research fellow at Xinhe Consulting.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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