EconomyChina becomes Rwanda’s biggest export market, but the hardest part is still ahead

China became the leading destination for Rwandan exports in the first quarter of 2026, taking 26% of the total compared with under 5% a year earlier. The dramatic shift followed China’s removal of tariffs on almost all Rwandan products, but access to its 1.4-billion-consumer market depends less on tariffs than on meeting sanitary standards.