Agriculture & Food

Agriculture is an important basic industry related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, and it is also one of the best docking areas for economic and trade cooperation between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road". Over the past decade, the scale of agricultural trade and agricultural investment between China and countries along the Belt and Road has steadily expanded, the level of integration of the industrial chain supply chain has continued to improve, and the "the Belt and Road" international agricultural cooperation has made remarkable achievements.

Sharing Agricultural Development Opportunities with Countries Along the Belt and Road

The "the Belt and Road" international agricultural cooperation has become an important path for China to share agricultural development opportunities with countries along the "the Belt and Road", alleviate global hunger and poverty, and ensure global food security.

Promote countries along the Belt and Road to share opportunities for China's agricultural opening-up to the outside world. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, China has continuously promoted multilateral and bilateral international trade and economic cooperation and continued to expand the opening up of agriculture. At present, China has initially built a network of high standard free trade zones based on the surrounding areas, radiating the "the Belt and Road" and facing the world. The level of agricultural product liberalization in most free trade agreements exceeds 90%. Since the proposal was put forward, China's agricultural trade with countries along the route has developed rapidly, always in a trade deficit position, and the scale of the deficit is constantly expanding. In 2022, China's agricultural trade deficit with countries along the Belt and Road reached 49.9 billion US dollars, 3.8 times that of 2013.

Assist countries along the route in reducing poverty and benefiting farmers. Poverty eradication is the primary goal proposed in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Under the framework of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, Chinese enterprises, taking agriculture as the leading industry, have brought Chinese varieties, Chinese technology and Chinese models to local areas, improved local agricultural production technology and output, created jobs and increased income for the poor, and played an important role in ensuring global food security and poverty alleviation. For example, in the China Sudan cotton cooperation planting project, Chinese enterprises have improved the cotton planting and processing level in Sudan by introducing and improving cotton varieties, assisting farmers in planting, providing technical guidance, and unblocking sales channels, helping local farmers solve employment and poverty alleviation problems. At present, the local cotton planting area exceeds 200000 acres, which can create over 40000 job opportunities annually.

Maintain the stability of the global agricultural industry chain and supply chain. At present, the global agricultural industrial chain supply chain is in a period of accelerated restructuring. Strengthening the security cooperation of the "the Belt and Road" agricultural industry and enhancing the resilience of the agricultural industrial chain supply chain of countries along the line are conducive to broadening the import and export channels of international trade of important agricultural products, including food, and are crucial to maintaining world food security and agricultural development. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, Chinese enterprises, based on the resource endowments of countries along the Belt and Road, have carried out agricultural trade and investment cooperation in line with local conditions, and driven countries along the Belt and Road to integrate into the world market. For example, COFCO Group has invested in the construction of grain warehousing and logistics facilities in the Black Sea and Central Asia regions, extended the dairy industry chain in Indonesia and New Zealand, and promoted rice trade in Southeast Asia.

Gradually improving the cooperation system and mechanism

Over the past decade, China has actively promoted the construction of agricultural bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation mechanisms under the "the Belt and Road" framework, effectively improved the level of agricultural system connectivity with relevant countries, and provided institutional guarantee for deepening international agricultural cooperation.

Maintain and strengthen multilateral cooperation mechanisms. China has always been a staunch supporter of the multilateral trading system and has become one of the countries with the lowest tariffs on agricultural products in the world, making important contributions to promoting world trade liberalization. China actively participates in global food governance, actively sets agenda issues within a multilateral framework, and promotes the transformation of the global food security governance system towards a more fair and reasonable direction. At the same time, we have continuously deepened our cooperation with FAO, the World Food Programme, the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Bank and other relevant institutions, and signed the "the Belt and Road" cooperation document with a number of international organizations. For example, in November 2016, 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted a resolution by consensus, welcoming economic cooperation initiatives such as the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", and calling on the international community to provide a safe and secure environment for the construction of the "the Belt and Road".

Deepen regional agricultural cooperation mechanisms. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, China has promoted the signing of a number of regional agricultural economic and trade cooperation agreements based on the principle of joint consultation, joint construction, sharing and mutual benefit and win-win results, and has escorted agricultural economic and trade cooperation. By 2021, China has signed more than 100 "the Belt and Road" cooperation agreements with more than 80 countries and international organizations in the agricultural field, and established long-term regional agricultural cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN China Japan South Korea (10+3) agricultural cooperation, South South cooperation under the framework of the "Special Plan for Food Security", the "10+10" cooperation mechanism of China Africa agricultural research institutions, and the Lancang Mekong River cooperation mechanism. It is worth mentioning that China is also actively promoting regional cooperation on food security with countries along the route. In November 2022, the 25th China ASEAN (10+1) Leaders' Meeting adopted the Joint Declaration on China ASEAN Food Security Cooperation, which will focus on practical cooperation around the four pillars of food security: supply, access, utilization, and stability.

Improve the connectivity level of bilateral agricultural cooperation systems. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, China has actively engaged in agricultural mechanism and planning docking with countries along the route, and has signed more than 30 bilateral agricultural cooperation agreements with ASEAN countries to strengthen policy exchanges and coordination, clarify development strategies and directions, and constantly consolidate the foundation of bilateral agricultural cooperation. At the same time, China has also participated in the formulation of agricultural planning in some countries along the route. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China jointly established a working group to jointly formulate the "Overall Plan for the Development of Modern Agriculture in Cambodia". Russia and China have successively signed the "Agricultural Development Plan for Northeast China, Far East and Baikal of Russia" and the "Development Plan for Deepening Sino Russian Soybean Cooperation".

Agricultural product trade is becoming increasingly close

Over the past decade, the level of agricultural trade connectivity between China and the countries along the "the Belt and Road" has continued to improve. Under the complex and changing international political and economic environment, China has demonstrated strong resilience and formed a good situation of mutual benefit and win-win results.

The scale of trade is growing rapidly. Countries along the "the Belt and Road" cover a wide range of regions, rich agricultural resources and diverse climates, laying a good hardware foundation for international agricultural cooperation. In 2022, the trade volume of agricultural products between China and countries along the route reached 141.18 billion US dollars, 2.1 times that of 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 8.7%. Among them, the export of agricultural products to countries along the route reached 45.64 billion US dollars, 1.7 times higher than in 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 6%; The import of agricultural products from countries along the route reached 95.54 billion US dollars, 2.4 times higher than in 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 10.2%.

The proportion of trade is gradually increasing. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, the growth rate of agricultural trade between China and countries along the Belt and Road has exceeded the overall growth rate of China's agricultural trade, and the proportion of agricultural trade along the "the Belt and Road" has continued to increase. In 2022, China's agricultural trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road accounted for 41.9% of China's total agricultural trade volume, 6.2 percentage points higher than in 2013. Among them, agricultural product exports to countries along the route accounted for 46% of China's total agricultural product exports, an increase of 6.3 percentage points compared to 2013; The import volume of agricultural products from countries along the route accounts for 40.2% of China's total agricultural product imports, an increase of 6.8 percentage points compared to 2013. The import volume of agricultural products such as vegetable oil, tropical fruits, and cassava from countries along the route exceeds 60% of the total import volume of such products.

The trade structure is constantly optimizing. China's agricultural exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" are dominated by labor-intensive products with traditional advantages such as fruits, vegetables and aquatic products. In 2022, China's total exports of fruits, vegetables, and aquatic products to countries along the route accounted for 50% of the total exports of agricultural products to countries along the route. Among them, the export value of aquatic products is the largest, at 9.63 billion US dollars, accounting for 21.1% of the total export value of agricultural products to countries along the route. Since the proposal was proposed, there has been a clear trend of diversification in China's agricultural product imports from countries along the route. The import volume of livestock products, aquatic products, and fruits with traditional advantages has rapidly increased, meeting the growing diversified demand in China. In 2022, the total imports of livestock products, aquatic products, and fruits accounted for 53.1% of China's total imports of agricultural products from countries along the route. At the same time, land intensive agricultural products such as vegetable oil and oilseeds have always been important agricultural products imported by China from countries along the route. In 2022, their combined imports accounted for 17.5% of the total agricultural product imports from countries along the route.

Silk Road e-commerce helps the development of agricultural products trade along the "the Belt and Road". Although the amount of agricultural trade conducted in the general trade mode accounts for more than 80% of the total agricultural trade between China and the countries along the "the Belt and Road", cross-border e-commerce has gradually developed into a new driving force for the growth of agricultural trade along the "the Belt and Road" in recent years. As of 2022, China has established bilateral cooperation mechanisms for Silk Road e-commerce with 29 countries, continuously enriching the connotation of e-commerce cooperation and opening up new space for agricultural product trade. In 2022, the cross-border e-commerce trade volume of agricultural products between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" will be 2.29 billion US dollars, up 35.3% year on year. Among them, exports reached 740 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 76%; Import reached 1.55 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16%. Agricultural products from over 10 countries along the route, including Chilean wine, Vietnamese purple cashew nuts, Russian vodka, and Colombian coffee, have continuously entered the Chinese consumer market through e-commerce platforms, promoting the growth of agricultural product trade in relevant countries.

Continuously Deepening Agricultural Foreign Investment Cooperation

Over the past decade, China's agricultural investment in the countries along the "the Belt and Road" has become more stable, with gradually diversified investment fields. The quality of overseas agricultural cooperation parks has been continuously improved, and the supply chain of agricultural industry chain in the region has become more smooth, stable and safe.

The investment scale has steadily expanded. In 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments jointly issued the Vision and Action of Jointly Promoting Agricultural Cooperation in the Construction of the "the Belt and Road", which clearly proposed to increase investment in agricultural infrastructure and the whole industrial chain links such as production, processing, storage and transportation, and circulation. In recent years, China's agricultural investment in countries along the "the Belt and Road" has grown steadily. In 2021, the stock of foreign agricultural investment in countries along the "Belt and Road" will be 14.02 billion US dollars, accounting for 51.7% of China's total agricultural foreign investment.

The investment field and region are gradually expanding. In recent years, China's agricultural foreign investment in countries along the "the Belt and Road" has gradually expanded to production, initial and deep processing, logistics, warehousing and sales, and the "going global" of agriculture has gradually moved towards the construction stage of the whole industrial chain. Among them, the investment in the production process accounts for a relatively large proportion, mainly involving agricultural materials, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, auxiliary industries, and planting. At the same time, the investment areas for countries along the route have also been continuously expanding, from initially focusing on Asia and Africa to gradually expanding to six continents around the world. Among them, Southeast Asia, Eastern Africa, Central Asia, and Russia are key investment regions and countries, while Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia are investment hotspots. In 2021, China's agricultural outbound investment stock in the Asian region was 11.7 billion US dollars, accounting for 43.1% of China's total agricultural outbound investment.

Overseas agricultural cooperation parks have become an important platform for China's overseas agricultural investment in countries along the "the Belt and Road". Chinese enterprises have actively promoted the construction of agricultural cooperation parks based on their own development foundation and demands, followed a market-oriented operation model, combined with factors such as development strategies, agricultural resource endowment, and market demand of countries along the route, and achieved good economic benefits. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has identified 10 overseas parks, including the Tajikistan China Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Park, as pilot projects for the construction of overseas agricultural cooperation demonstration zones. With the goal of cultivating multinational agricultural enterprise groups with international trade competitiveness, the Ministry has established a public platform for agriculture going out overseas, promoting enterprises to unite and go abroad, and promoting the aggregation of overseas agricultural industries. For example, the Sino Russian (Coastal Border Region) Agricultural Industry Cooperation Zone, built in 2014, currently has a cultivated area of 68000 hectares and 14 planting areas. The agricultural mechanization rate reaches 100%, and the yield of wheat and corn planted has ranked first in the coastal border region of Russia for many consecutive years. It has become the largest agricultural cooperation project between China and Russia that integrates planting, breeding, and processing.

Significant achievements in agricultural foreign aid

Over the past decade, China has always adhered to the concept of common development, continued to increase assistance to developing countries along the "the Belt and Road" in agricultural infrastructure, agricultural means, technology, food and other aspects, and helped them gradually achieve independent agricultural development.

The scale of aid continues to expand. Since the the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward, China has continuously increased agricultural assistance to developing countries along the Belt and Road, making positive contributions to promoting agricultural and rural development in relevant countries. So far, China has become the developing country with the most financial assistance, experts dispatched, and projects carried out under the South South cooperation framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Among them, the China FAO South South Cooperation Trust Fund, officially established in 2009, received a total donation of $30 million from China in the first phase and $50 million in the second phase. After the third donation, the total funds of the China FAO South South Cooperation Trust Fund reached 130 million US dollars.

Assistance methods are more diverse. In recent years, China's agricultural foreign aid has paid more attention to the actual needs of recipient countries, adopting various and multidimensional agricultural aid methods such as supporting agricultural infrastructure construction, transferring and imparting agricultural technology, and providing agricultural materials and equipment, effectively promoting local farmers' production and income increase. For example, in assisting Georgia in vegetable greenhouse planting technology cooperation, experts have promoted solar greenhouse planting technology to farmers, increased local agricultural production, and solved the problem of local vegetables being difficult to self-sufficient; For East Timor, one of the least developed countries, various measures such as training in grain cultivation techniques, providing agricultural materials and equipment, and assisting in the construction of grain storage facilities will be taken to help enhance its self-sufficiency in grain production; Assisting in the construction of Laos' agricultural technology demonstration center has helped to increase the local corn yield by nearly 70% and doubled the rice yield.

Agricultural technology cooperation achieves leapfrog development

Over the past decade, China has continuously strengthened agricultural science and technology cooperation with countries along the "the Belt and Road", promoted high-quality seeds and advanced technologies suitable for local climate conditions and farming habits to relevant countries, effectively improved local agricultural production efficiency and farmers' income, and contributed Chinese wisdom to global poverty reduction and food security.

Technological exchange and cooperation have yielded fruitful results. Strengthening agricultural science and technology exchange and sharing is an important part of the "the Belt and Road" international agricultural cooperation. Since the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward, China has always focused on sharing agricultural development experience with relevant countries, transferring practical agricultural technology, and hopes to drive local agricultural production and farmers' income increase through Chinese wisdom. China actively promotes the production of high-quality seeds such as hybrid rice, animal and plant cultivation and breeding, as well as disease prevention and control, as well as the promotion and application of advantageous technologies such as agricultural machinery and biogas in relevant countries. As of 2021, China has dispatched over 2000 agricultural experts and technicians to more than 70 countries and regions, promoting and demonstrating over 1500 agricultural technologies to multiple countries, driving an average increase in project yields of 40% to 70%. Hybrid rice covers dozens of countries and regions, with an annual planting area of 8 million hectares, and an average yield per hectare higher than local excellent varieties by about 2 tons.

The construction of cooperation platforms in important fields has been effectively promoted. In recent years, China and agricultural research institutions in countries along the "the Belt and Road" have jointly integrated scientific and technological resources and created a number of international joint laboratories and R&D centers and other cooperation platforms for different regions, types and needs. Through specialized