The “Foreign State Immunity Law of the People’s Republic of China” has now been implemented. This legislation marks China’s formal adoption of a restrictive immunity stance, aligning with the PRC’s current national interests. The implementation of this law is relevant to China-Africa cooperation and will present future risks and challenges. African states are prone to lawsuits in foreign courts. By examining the defendants, causes of actions, defense strategies, and outcomes in foreign courts, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of the state immunity issues faced by African states abroad, providing reference cases for handling lawsuits in China with African states as defendants. In the context of China’s transition to restrictive immunity, litigation involving African states in China poses several challenges: the potential disruption of individual lawsuits to China-Africa relations, political and diplomatic considerations undermining the predictability of the “Foreign State Immunity Law”, and obstacles to enforcing favorable verdicts for Chinese private entities due to the immunity from compulsory judicial measures under the law. In the context of China’s state immunity institutional transition, China needs to balance protecting private rights, respecting the immunity of African states, and maintaining friendly China-Africa relations. In view of the possible future litigation involving African states in China, China should properly analyze potential challenges regarding state immunity and propose specifi c countermeasures.