At the invitation of the governments of Mauritius, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Senegal, a delegation from the Chinese government paid an official visit to the five countries in January 2011. More than a year later, at the invitation of the governments of the Congo, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, a delegation from the Chinese government paid an official visit to the four countries in September 2012.
China-Africa Journey: Mutual Benefit and Common Development
The African continent covers an area of about 30 million square kilometers, second only to Asia, accounting for 20.4% of the world's total land area, which is about three times the size of the continental territory. Most countries in Africa are agricultural countries, with backward agricultural production methods and low levels of development. Currently, two-thirds of Africa's population lives in rural areas, and 70 per cent of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. Agriculture accounts for more than 20 per cent of the national economy in most countries, with an average of 33 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, and 40 per cent of export earnings come from agriculture.
The African continent has been suffering from a chronic food shortage, and the problem of food security has become more prominent in recent years. Africa accounts for about two-thirds of the world's 50 countries with high food security risks. In Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Angola, Libya, Chad and Zimbabwe are among the countries at extreme risk of food security. Despite the great efforts made by various countries, Africa's agricultural development is still facing tremendous challenges, such as backward technology, insufficient input, soil degradation, excessive population growth, and drastic fluctuations in international food prices, making it difficult for Africa's food security situation to fundamentally improve in the short term.
The mainland's aid to non-agricultural countries has a long history, is diverse in form and has a wide range of contents. In recent years, with the in-depth development of China-Africa cooperation, the mainland has further increased its assistance to Africa, and has successively assisted 49 African countries in building 142 agricultural projects, completed 51 agricultural product processing projects, supported 53 agricultural projects through preferential loans, trained 26,000 agricultural talents for Africa, and is currently helping to build agricultural technology demonstration centers for 24 countries. At the same time, the mainland is also the first country to participate in the South-South cooperation project on agriculture established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations under the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security, and it is also the country that has sent the largest number of agricultural technical experts, with more than 2,700 Chinese agricultural technical experts sent to many African countries. During the period from 2009 to 2021, the mainland donated US$130 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to set up a trust fund for South-South cooperation in agriculture, which will be used to help developing countries, including African countries, improve their agricultural production capacity and further promote South-South cooperation in agriculture between China and Africa under the framework of the Special Programme for Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The visit of the Chinese government delegation to five African countries was an important measure taken by the mainland in 2011 to further strengthen China-Africa cooperation and increase its assistance to Africa. The promotion and strengthening of China-Africa agricultural cooperation and exchanges is an important part of the visit.
The first stop on the visit was Mauritius. During the talks, the two sides agreed that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, China-Mauritius relations have always maintained healthy and stable development, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in practical cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, and the mutually beneficial cooperation under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has achieved remarkable results. The two countries understand and support each other in international and regional affairs, and hope that the two sides will work together to further promote the continuous and in-depth development of bilateral relations. In order to commemorate the achievements of cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, the host and the guest also planted a tree of cooperation and friendship.
The second stop is the Republic of Zambia. On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of China, I signed a memorandum of understanding with the Minister of Agriculture of Zambia on behalf of the Chinese government delegation to strengthen agricultural cooperation between the two countries. During the visit to Zambia, the mainland government delegation made a special trip to inspect the Zhongken Farm invested and built by the China Agricultural Development Group in Zambia, watched the farm's planting, animal husbandry and farmland water conservancy facilities, and held discussions with mainland managers and technical experts at the Zhongken Farm Department, encouraging them to continue to work hard and make contributions to China-Zambia agricultural cooperation and exchanges.
The third stop is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During his talks with the head of the Congolese Government in Kinshasa, the head of the Chinese delegation put forward a four-point proposal for strengthening bilateral relations. One of them is to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, forestry and water conservancy and expand new areas of cooperation between the two countries. The head of government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) endorsed the positive appraisal of the head of the mainland government delegation on the relations between the two countries and the proposal for further strengthening the relations between the two countries. It is hoped that China will further transfer technology to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help the DRC achieve sustainable economic and social development.
△Attended the unveiling ceremony of the China-aided Congo (DRC) Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center
During my visit, I profoundly felt the warm welcome and profound friendship of the African governments to the delegation of the mainland government, which concentrated on the national characteristics of the African people who are enthusiastic and unrestrained, singing and dancing. Whether it is a formal event or a field trip to the countryside, you can hear beautiful African music and singing, and you can see the passionate African folk dance. Warmly invited and infected by the passion of African friends, I also joined the band of African friends, cooperated with African musicians as a drummer, learned African dance with African dancers, and also demonstrated some Chinese folk dances. This interaction has brought the atmosphere of various exchange activities to a climax, and has also promoted more lively and in-depth exchanges and exchanges between the staff of the mainland government delegation and the government staff of African countries.
The next stop is the Republic of Cameroon. In Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, the head of the Chinese government delegation listened to the progress of the work of the Shaanxi Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Group of the mainland in aiding the construction of the Cameroonian Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center, and expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in China's agricultural aid work. Continuously improve the level and quality of the mainland's cooperation and exchanges with non-agricultural countries.
The last stop on my visit to Africa in 2011 was the Republic of Senegal. In the capital, Dakar, the head of the Chinese delegation met with the Senegalese state leader and held talks with the Senegalese head of government. After the talks, the two sides attended the signing ceremony of the exchange of letters and other relevant documents on agricultural technical cooperation projects.
In 2012, I set foot on the land of Africa again, and came to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo (Brazzaville).
Congo (Brazzaville) is actively engaged in agricultural cooperation with the mainland. In terms of fishery cooperation, four Chinese private companies operate in the DRC, accounting for 70% of the DRC fishery market. In terms of forestry, logs are the main products imported by the mainland from the Congo (Brazzaville), and a memorandum of understanding on forestry cooperation between China and the Congo (Brazzaville) has been signed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of afforestation, sustainable forest management, forest health, wildlife protection and nature reserves.
Under the framework of the eight measures of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the mainland has built an agricultural technology demonstration center for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). Since January 2012, our side has sent the first batch of agricultural experts to carry out technical cooperation and exchanges in the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center, which mainly includes agricultural scientific experimental research, demonstration planting, large-scale breeding, agricultural product processing and agricultural practical technology training.
During his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the head of the delegation of the mainland government held talks with the leaders of the Congolese state. After the talks, the two sides signed a number of agreements on the provision of preferential loan assistance, agricultural cooperation, etc. In order to show that the two governments attach great importance to promoting bilateral agricultural cooperation between China and Congo Brazzaville, the leaders of China and Congo Brazzaville attended the ribbon-cutting and unveiling ceremony of the China-aided Congo Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center.
Entrusted by the delegation of the Chinese government, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Minister of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), I delivered speeches respectively, expressing the great importance that the governments of China and the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) attach to agricultural science and technology work and the unanimous consensus on deepening bilateral agricultural cooperation with the agricultural demonstration center as an important platform. Extension and farmer training will train more agricultural technical personnel for the local area, and teach more practical agricultural skills to local farmers, so as to make positive contributions to the development of agriculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 2012, the last stop of the Chinese delegation's trip to Africa was Tanzania. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania in 1964, bilateral relations have developed steadily for a long time. Sino-Tanzania agricultural cooperation began in the 70s of the 20th century. Agricultural cooperation projects mainly include sisal planting and processing, cotton planting, etc. The mainland has aided the construction of agricultural projects in Tanzania, such as the Mbalali Farm, the Mahonda Sugar Factory on Mulberry Island, the Agricultural Tool Factory, the Agricultural Technology Station, and the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center. Under the eight measures announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006, the mainland-aided Tanzania Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center was completed and handed over to Tanzania in 2011, entering the stage of agricultural technical cooperation. Under the eight new measures of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2009, the mainland sent agricultural technical experts to Tanzania to carry out agricultural scientific research and agricultural technology training. Since 2006, the mainland has invited a number of Tanzania's agricultural management and technical experts to China to participate in various agricultural technology training courses held by the mainland.
Like many people, when I think of Tanzania, I think of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, which is known as the "Road of Friendship" and "Road of Freedom". During their stay in Tanzania, all members of the Chinese government delegation, accompanied by Tanzanian government officials, made a special trip to pay respects to the cemetery of Chinese experts aided by Tanzania. A total of 69 Chinese experts, technicians and workers who died in the line of duty while assisting in the construction of the Tanzanian nation are buried in the cemetery. Of the 69 Chinese experts who died in the line of duty to assist Tanzania's national construction, 51 died for the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway. It can be said that this railway was built by the Chinese and Tanzanian people with their lives and sweat, embodies the deep affection of the Chinese people for the African people, reflects China's firm support for the cause of African national liberation and national development, and is a symbol and monument of friendship and unity between China and Tanzania and China and Africa.
The delegation of the Chinese Government also visited Zanzibar while in Tanzania. Zanzibar is the world-famous "island of lilacs", rich in agricultural resources, and the food crops are mainly corn and sorghum. The sea is vast and there are many fish species, but the fishery is in the primitive stage, with only a small amount of seaweed cultivated and exported to Europe. In recent years, Zanzibar has vigorously developed agriculture, actively attracted foreign investment, and sought foreign aid, and its economy has maintained steady growth.
During their visit to Zanzibar, the leaders focused on how to further strengthen economic cooperation, especially in the field of agriculture, and to increase aid to Zanzibar.
During my visit to Africa, there were some things that stuck with me. After I moved into the Livingston Hotel in Zambia, I opened the glass door of my room to the balcony to change the air. As soon as I turned around, a little monkey came in uninvited, picked up a bunch of grapes from my fruit bowl and jumped out of my room happily, I looked at this scene, and thought it was very interesting, before I could close the glass door, maybe the mother monkey squeezed in again, went to the table and took an apple from the fruit bowl, looked at it, and swaggered away with a bigger apple. As soon as she left, I quickly closed the glass door. I was pleasantly surprised by the sight of these two "guests" tasting fresh fruit outside the glass door, looking at me happily and even with some pride. I hurried out of the room to tell my Chinese colleagues about the "adventure" I had experienced. When I walked out of the room and down the steps, I looked up to see a number of zebras walking by in front of my room door. Looking a little farther away, I saw animals that I couldn't name for a while. Looking at the surging waters of the Zambezi River and the pristine forests not far away, I truly felt the natural beauty of the African continent.
Source: China Rural Network
Editor: Huo Ran
Supervisor: Guo Wenping, Xu Feng
Submission email: [email protected]