Port Elizabeth, China News Service, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Why is there a promising prospect for trade and exchanges between African and Chinese agricultural products?
——Interview with Namibian politician and diplomat Njivet
China News Service reporter Wang Xi
With the deepening and breadth of bilateral cooperation and exchanges between China and Africa, agricultural exchanges, cooperation and trade, as one of the important areas of China-Africa relations, are attracting more and more attention from the Chinese and African people. In recent years, African agricultural products such as beef, fish, and fruits have gradually entered the dining table of the Chinese people, and have been welcomed for their high quality and low prices.
Veiccoh Nghiwete, a Namibian politician and diplomat and former high commissioner of the Namibian High Commissioner to South Africa, has been committed to promoting Africa-China agricultural trade and exchanges in recent years. A few days ago, he was interviewed by China News Service's "East-West Question", saying that Africa-China exchanges and cooperation in agricultural products have great potential and broad prospects, and will ultimately benefit the African and Chinese people.
The transcript of the interview is summarized below:
China News Service: Could you briefly introduce the history of China-Africa agricultural exchanges and cooperation?
Njiwitt: The exchange and cooperation of non-Chinese agricultural products in the 20th century was affected by multiple factors, and it was not systematic and difficult to form a scale. Fortunately, since the beginning of the 21st century, the promotion of the "South-South" cooperation process and the establishment of platforms such as the Africa-China Cooperation Forum have accelerated the pace of agricultural exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China, and have shown a trend of continuous growth and expansion.
On June 30, 2023, in Changsha, Hunan Province, Chinese businessmen visited the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Innovation Demonstration Park. Photo by Cui Nan
In particular, the data of the past 20 years show that Africa-China bilateral economic and trade cooperation has made steady progress and the scale of cooperation has been expanding. Through the "Belt and Road" initiative, China-Africa economic and trade expo and other cooperation platforms, Africa-China economic and trade cooperation has made progress in many fields, and a large number of practical cooperation projects have taken root and grown.
In my home country, Namibia, the quality of beef has been praised by people from all over the world, but due to limited markets and channels, the scale of beef cattle breeding in Namibia has been restricted. It wasn't until 2015 that Namibia became the first African country to be allowed to export beef to China, that the problem changed dramatically. Today, as the beef cattle farming industry has grown in size and farmers' incomes have grown, Namibian beef has gained more recognition around the world. More importantly, more Chinese friends know about Namibia and African countries through beef, which is a win-win result.
China News Service: What are the characteristics of China-Africa agricultural exchanges and cooperation?
Njivit: The sustainable development of agricultural exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China plays an irreplaceable role in promoting cross-regional agricultural cooperation in the world.
This is manifested in three characteristics: First, the exchanges and cooperation between African and Chinese agricultural products are showing a trend of continuous expansion, and the growth situation is remarkable; second, the proportion of agricultural products in the trade between the two sides is expanding year by year; and third, the participating countries in the exchanges and cooperation of agricultural products between Africa and China are relatively concentrated, mainly South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, and so on.
On November 8, 2017, the staff of Xuanhua Yilong Planting Base in Hebei Province checked the growth of African ice grass. Ice grass, also known as ice leaf sunflower, is native to Namibia and other places in southern Africa. Photo by Chen Xiaodong
The exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agricultural products are complementary, especially in recent years, the exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agricultural products have become increasingly close and the scale has also grown. According to the data, from 2020 to 2022, the trade volume of agricultural products between Africa and China increased from US$7.67 billion to US$8.92 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 7.8%. By the end of 2021, the stock of Chinese enterprises' investment in agriculture in Africa reached 12.8 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 11.4%, driving more than 30,000 jobs. It can be said that the exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agricultural products have played an important role in promoting Africa's efforts to solve the problems of poverty and employment and expand agricultural production.
China News Service: What are the current problems in China-Africa agricultural exchanges and cooperation?
Njivit: First, the current exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agricultural products are mainly limited to a few countries with agricultural advantages in Africa, while the rest of the African countries have a low "sense of presence" due to their limited agricultural level and scale; second, although the export potential of African agricultural products is huge, the capacity needs to be improved, especially the variety of agricultural products needs to be increased urgently; third, compared with the traditional way of import and export trade of agricultural products, African agriculture needs China to "teach people to fish" more at present; Fourth, the political turmoil in some African countries has led to uncertainties in Africa-China exchanges and cooperation in agricultural products; fifth, due to the relatively backward economic scale of some African countries, their deep-processing capacity of agricultural products is limited, which affects the "follow-up process."
The Global Coffee & Chocolate Exhibition is one of the most influential exhibitions in South Africa. Photo by Wang Xi
The above points hinder the in-depth development of exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agricultural products, and directly affect the expansion of agricultural production in Africa. For example, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and other countries produce good coffee beans, and many Chinese merchants are full of praise after tasting them. But unfortunately, due to the lack of processing capacity, it is difficult for these high-quality raw materials to meet the export standards, and even many foreigners do not know that these countries can still produce coffee, and every time they talk about this topic, they will always look surprised.
China News Service: Why are you optimistic about the prospects of China-Africa agricultural exchanges and cooperation?
Njivit: Despite some difficulties and challenges, I am still full of confidence in the prospects of Africa-China agricultural exchanges and cooperation, and I am willing to work to promote the deepening of cooperation and exchanges between the two sides in agricultural products.
On June 29, 2023, Chinese and African businessmen moved forward "hand in hand" at the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. Photo by Cui Nan
First, it is necessary to expand the scope of countries and products for the exchange and cooperation of agricultural products between the two sides through the formulation of policies and regulations that are compatible with them, so that more high-quality products can be displayed and the cooperation can benefit the people of both sides, especially more poor African countries. Second, we should continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Africa and China in agriculture outside the field of trade, such as inviting Chinese experts to provide agricultural assistance and investment to African countries, which can effectively improve the level of agricultural production in African countries.
In short, I believe that, as stated in the vision of "striving to double the trade volume of agricultural products between China and Africa in the next decade and exceed 20 billion US dollars", in the future, Africa-China agricultural exchanges and cooperation will become more frequent and diverse, and ultimately bring greater benefits to the African and Chinese people. (ENDS)
Interviewee Profile:
Veiccoh Nghiwete, a Namibian politician, senior diplomat, and former High Commissioner of Namibia to the High Commissioner in South Africa, has been committed to promoting China-Africa agricultural trade and exchanges and cooperation in recent years.