China and BRI countries share fruits of agricultural cooperation under BRI

On January 8, 2020, the Confucius Institute at Mahasarakham University in Thailand and Guangdong Guangken Rubber Group Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement on talent cultivation and resource sharing in order to further China-Thailand cultural exchanges. (Photo courtesy of Guangdong Guangken Rubber Group Co., Ltd.’s website.)

Since proposing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) eight years ago, China has made consistent efforts to promote pragmatic cooperation with BRI participants in agriculture, a key sector of BRI cooperation, and has achieved mutual complementarity and common development in the sector with relevant countries.

China has signed agricultural cooperation agreements with 86 BRI countries so far, with more than half of them establishing stable working mechanisms. China has invested in over 820 agricultural projects in BRI countries over the last eight years.

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The value of the country’s BRI investments has surpassed $17 billion. Its agricultural trade volume with countries participating in the BRI totaled $95.79 billion last year.

In 2012, China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group Ltd. (CSI) and Shandong Lumian Group, both based in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province in east China, jointly registered a new company in Sudan called New Epoch Agriculture Development Company for the construction of the China-Sudan Agricultural Cooperation Development Zone.

The project’s first phase entails a $50 million total planned investment, of which $46 million has been realized.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs designated the China-Sudan Agricultural Cooperation Development Zone as one of the first batch of ten overseas agricultural cooperation demonstration zones in 2017.

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The China-Sudan Agricultural Cooperation Development Zone, which consists of a central area in the Rahad irrigation area in El-Fau town, El-Gadarif State, Sudan, and multiple industrial parks, focuses on the development and construction of free trade platforms for various links of the industrial chain, ranging from cultivation bases for superior varieties and breeds, planting and breeding bases, to agricultural products processing, logistics services, and trading.

The agricultural cooperation development zone has driven the agricultural development of the entire Rahad irrigation area, which covers an area of 2.2 million mu, through a development model based on shared benefits and win-win outcomes (about 146,670 hectares).

The ongoing agricultural cooperation between China and Sudan has benefited the Sudanese people in tangible ways.

According to Sun Lei, deputy general manager of new era agricultural development company, Ltd., the China-Sudan Agricultural Cooperation Development Zone is steadily advancing the construction of its industrial parks, and it is also conducting cooperation negotiations with relevant enterprises in the industrial chain.

According to Sun, the construction of these industrial parks has helped local people solve their employment problems and increase their income to a large extent.

With the steady progress of these industrial parks, great changes have occurred in El-Fau town in recent years, according to Sun, who explained that the town’s road conditions have improved, its markets have become busier, and many locals have replaced their bikes with motorcycles.

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Guangdong Guangken Rubber Group Co., Ltd., based in Guangdong province in south China, acquired Thai Hua Rubber Public Company Limited, the world’s third-largest natural rubber producer, in September 2016, becoming one of the world’s largest natural rubber operators with a complete industrial chain.

In countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Singapore, the Chinese company has launched 42 independent natural rubber projects, establishing a development framework that includes research and development, sapling breeding, plantation management, deep processing, storage and logistics, and international trade. In a given year, the company produces and sells over 700,000 tons of dry rubber products from its international projects.

Guangdong Guangken Rubber Group Co., Ltd. has opened 26 natural rubber processing factories in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with a total production capacity of 1.3 million tons, in recent years through mergers and acquisitions and factory construction. The Chinese company’s rubber factories have increased the benefits of planting rubber trees, created a large number of jobs for locals, and increased tax revenues for local governments. The Chinese company also built public facilities and opened schools for the children of its local employees, thereby improving the local communities’ living conditions.

In recent years, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and relevant authorities have jointly issued the Vision and Action on Jointly Promoting Agricultural Cooperation on the Belt and Road, as well as the International Food Loss Reduction Conference and the International Forum on Black Soil Conservation and Utilization, sending a signal to the world that agricultural cooperation is being strengthened and modern agricultural development outcomes are being shared.

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According to Sui Pengfei, director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ international cooperation department, China aims to improve top-level design, facilitate policy docking and mutual recognition of standards with participating countries, promote agricultural service trade as a new growth point for international cooperation, and build a platform for agricultural cooperation by implementing Belt and Road agricultural construction.