General

A few days ago, several trading partners from China, the five Central Asian countries and the ancient Silk Road gathered in Qingdao, China, to jointly discuss the agricultural cooperation path between China and the five Central Asian countries at the first "China+the five Central Asian countries" Industrial and Investment Cooperation Forum International Agricultural Cooperation Sub-Forum to enhance the competitiveness of each other's agricultural industries.

At the meeting, more than 30 Chinese and foreign enterprises, as the first group of alliance members, jointly launched the SCO Agricultural Industry Development Alliance to provide a sustainable development path for the agricultural industry cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries. The SCO Agricultural Industry Development Alliance will build an international trade cooperation platform by integrating domestic and foreign industrial resources, and gather the consensus and joint efforts of the government, enterprises, finance, scientific research and all sectors of society through an effective alliance mechanism. It will strengthen cooperation in the construction of agricultural bases, new agricultural technologies, new products, and new business development, actively strive for policy support from all aspects, and jointly create a good business environment and market atmosphere; Adhere to ecological priority, mutual benefit and win-win results, and collaborative innovation, and build a community of shared future for the development of agricultural industry.

The prospect of agricultural cooperation is promising

Over the past 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries, various countries have continued to deepen cooperation in the field of agriculture, and built a rich and dynamic agricultural partnership, which has achieved good results.

Li Hongtao, deputy director of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, said that in terms of mechanism, China has signed a number of agricultural cooperation agreements with Central Asian countries, and has established distinctive cooperative relations in locust control, horse industry cooperation and other aspects. In terms of scientific and technological exchanges, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other Chinese scientific research institutions have formed a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with agricultural scientific research institutions in Central Asian countries, established agricultural joint laboratories, and achieved fruitful results in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, cotton cultivation and variety certification, dry farming and other aspects. In terms of trade and investment, the scale of agricultural products trade between China and the five Central Asian countries has increased year by year, from 175 million US dollars in 1992 to 1.073 billion US dollars in 2021.

In recent years, many Chinese enterprises have invested in the five Central Asian countries. By the end of 2021, China's agricultural investment stock in the five Central Asian countries was nearly 400 million US dollars, and nearly 3000 local employees were employed. The cooperation projects covered wheat flour and vegetable oil processing, cattle and sheep breeding and slaughtering processing, cotton planting and textiles, and contributed to the development of local agriculture.

Li Gang, Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone, said that agricultural cooperation has always been the focus of practical cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. All parties have been expanding the scale of cooperation and improving the quality of cooperation around the transformation and upgrading of agricultural products, the development of agricultural international trade, the upgrading of agricultural products value chain, ecological and green agriculture and other fields, in order to promote the economic integration and development linkage of all parties The sharing of achievements has laid a good foundation.

Kyrgyzstan is very willing to deepen cooperation with China in agriculture, especially green agriculture. According to the second secretary of the Kyrgyz Embassy in China, Bekboyev Daniel, Kyrgyzstan is an agricultural country, and agriculture accounts for a large share of GDP. The country attaches great importance to the development of green agriculture. The agricultural products that can be exported to China's international trade include cherry, melon, flour, dairy products, horses, honey, etc.

Fazimahad Amunov, Director of the Department of International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan, said that the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan would introduce new technologies to organize mutual recognition of agricultural products and do a good job in the regional supply chain to ensure the export of agricultural products to China.

Aizhen, the chief representative of the Beijing Representative Office of the State Grain Trade Group of Kazakhstan, said that Kazakhstan and China had signed a series of protocols, including the export of more than 20 kinds of agricultural products from planting and breeding industries to China, and hoped to increase the export of agricultural products to China in the future.

Aizhen said that at present, 1530 Kazakh enterprises have entered the list of Chinese importers, of which 94% are engaged in planting and 6% in aquaculture. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume of agricultural products between Kazakhstan and China increased by two times year-on-year to 783 million US dollars, including Kazakhstan's export to China of 553 million US dollars, an increase of 2.2 times year-on-year. The agricultural products exported to China mainly include sunflower seed oil, flaxseed, sunflower seed, chaff, rapeseed oil, barley and other oilseed crops.

Yuan Ruixian, director of the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced that Qingdao and the five Central Asian countries have carried out a series of modern agricultural cooperation - Kazakhstan-China Agriculture has built soybean, alfalfa and other crops and animal husbandry bases in Kazakhstan, Qingdao Guanzhong Ecology has built an economic seedling base in Uzbekistan, and Shandong Port has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Kazakhstan to promote the development of Sino-Kazakhstan cross-border trade, Qingdao Wanlin Group plans to invest in the construction of food processing and logistics industrial parks in Central Asian countries. "Based on the good foundation of Shandong agriculture, we actively explore new modes of modern agricultural cooperation with the five Central Asian countries such as' overseas pasture ', lay out eight innovation-driven modern agricultural industrial chains, cultivate key' chain owners' of agricultural industry, and create 'Qingdao agricultural products'. We look forward to investing with you in the modern agricultural industrial chains of China and the five Central Asian countries to promote modern agricultural industrial cooperation."

Promote high-quality development of agricultural cooperation

Li Hongtao, deputy director of the Center for Foreign Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, put forward three suggestions for deepening agricultural cooperation with the five Central Asian countries and promoting high-quality development of agricultural cooperation.

First, strengthen dialogue and coordination and jointly create a favorable international environment. All parties should strengthen bilateral and multilateral exchanges and cooperation, do a good job in agricultural policy communication, put agricultural and rural development at the top of the international agenda, jointly build a more equitable agricultural trade order, and improve the level of agricultural investment and trade liberalization and facilitation.

Second, strengthen economic and trade cooperation and jointly safeguard supply chain security. Based on their respective agricultural resource endowments and comparative advantages, we will continue to improve the level of agricultural trade and facilitation. In combination with new business forms such as the "Silk Road cross-border e-commerce", we will strengthen the trade cooperation of high-quality green agricultural products such as grain, cotton, honey, dairy products and fruit through the China-Europe Express (Central Asia) logistics channel, and continue to expand the scale of trade in agricultural products. Promote the deep integration of agricultural industry chain, create a green, safe and sustainable agricultural product supply system, and benefit people of all countries.

Third, strengthen innovation cooperation and promote green and sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. We will increase cooperation in agricultural science and technology innovation, continue to strengthen investment and exchange in germplasm resources, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, agricultural product processing, soil improvement, dry farming and other fields, and do a good job in technology transfer, application and knowledge sharing to achieve green and sustainable development.

Develop agricultural science and technology cooperation

Innovation, cooperation and exchange of agricultural science and technology are the driving force of agricultural cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries. Through agricultural science and technology cooperation, promote the cooperation of the whole agricultural industry chain, and realize the complementarity of advanced agricultural technology, land, germplasm resources and human resources with the five countries in Central Asia.

In order to strengthen agricultural science and technology cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has established the Central Asian Agricultural Research Center, located in Changji, Xinjiang. Xinjiang and Central Asia are both arid and semi-arid oasis agro-ecological regions, and advanced technologies and achievements can be directly applied to Central Asia. The Central Asia Center focuses on five major research directions - technological innovation of high-quality cotton, forestry and fruit industry with western characteristics, biosafety, quality improvement and processing of agricultural products, and ecological agriculture in Gobi.

At present, the Research Center has jointly established the "the Belt and Road" International Cotton Industry Science and Technology Innovation Institute with scientific research institutions and enterprises such as the Uzbekistan Cotton Research Institute. The output in the Uzbekistan Science and Technology Demonstration Zone is more than twice the local output, and the water consumption is 1/3 of the local level. In 2018, the President of Uzbekistan issued a presidential order to promote the cotton planting technology of "China Cotton Science and Technology Demonstration Park" in Uzbekistan. In addition, there are also cooperation between the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the "Sino-Uzbekistan Joint Rice Research Center" in Uzbekistan and the joint laboratory in Kazakhstan. In cooperation with the largest cotton production enterprise in Kyrgyzstan, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences has extended an area of 300000 mu in Kyrgyzstan. The Minister of Agriculture of Kyrgyzstan personally awarded the highest award to the Cotton Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Bi Jieying of the Overseas Agricultural Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences put forward several suggestions on agricultural science and technology cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries.

First, take scientific and technological cooperation as the guide, strengthen the supporting role of agricultural cooperation, carry out breeding of improved varieties, demonstration and promotion of variety technology, highlight the cooperation of efficient agricultural water-saving technology, integrated management technology of water and fertilizer, land desertification control and saline-alkali land improvement technology, and establish agricultural scientific and technological research and development centers, joint laboratories, etc. in Central Asian countries to strengthen scientific research cooperation.

The second is to strengthen cooperation in the prevention and control of cross-border animal and plant diseases and the inspection and quarantine of agricultural products, expand trade in agricultural products, strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in the prevention and control of animal and plant diseases, promote mutual recognition of inspection standards, develop cross-border e-commerce trade, and expand trade in agricultural products.

Third, take agricultural technology exchange training as the starting point to promote the exchange of various talents, especially the training courses for business officials and technicians of the Ministry of Commerce. In addition, we will establish a regular exchange mechanism, such as the training of international students, visiting scholars, and jointly holding international conferences.

Fourth, science and technology demonstration should take the lead. Through seed industry cooperation, the whole industry chain cooperation should be driven, and an industry-university-research consortium should be established to jointly develop key products and agricultural whole industry chain development cooperation. Build a demonstration park to realize cooperation in the whole industrial chain of planting, harvesting, processing and logistics.

Finally, in view of the difficulties faced by "going out" enterprises, we should strengthen government public information services.

Optimize the international trade layout of wheat

China's wheat has more cooperation with Central Asian countries, especially Kazakhstan. Liu Rui, chief wheat analyst of the agricultural product market analysis and early warning team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural China and associate researcher of the Food and Nutrition Development Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural China, put forward suggestions on strengthening wheat cooperation with Central Asian countries: first, to optimize the international trade layout of wheat and stabilize China's grain import and export policies; The second is to promote the diversification of wheat import channels, promote the construction of the "the Belt and Road" food corridor, expand wheat imports from Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries and carry out cooperation.

Liu Rui analyzed the problems in wheat cooperation. First, in terms of warehousing, the general warehousing facilities in Kazakhstan are relatively old; The second is the traffic problem. At present, the logistics transportation capacity is obviously insufficient; Third, quarantine standards and rules. At present, Kazakhstan has always used the standards and certification system of the United States, and it is not an international standard. There are certain difficulties in the connection of international standards; Finally, there is the transportation problem, which is mainly container, but the transportation capacity is obviously insufficient.

Liu Rui believes that it is very clear to develop wheat cooperation in the future. Under the construction of the "the Belt and Road" and the Silk Road Economic Belt, normalized cooperation has been completed. Trade cooperation between China and Central Asia can not only make up for the structural contradiction between China and the supply and demand of high-quality wheat, but also make use of Kazakhstan's idle agricultural resources to better promote local development. At the same time, the infrastructure construction and circulation standard improvement of the existing bonded areas such as Alashankou and Khorgos can also further promote cooperation in Central Asia.

Broaden industrial cooperation channels

China and the five Central Asian countries have the characteristics of geographical advantages and economic complementarity, especially since the implementation of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, bilateral economic and trade exchanges between China and the five Central Asian countries have continued to upgrade. Deng Youcheng, director and general manager of Qingdao Guoxin Development (Group) Co., Ltd., put forward two suggestions on how to effectively play the role of enterprises in resource channel links, optimal allocation of factors, industrial exchange and cooperation, and on how to explore the realization path of deepening cooperation with the five countries in Central Asia focusing on the fields of food and fishery.

First, smooth the bilateral circulation chain in the grain field between China and the five Central Asian countries, and enable the policies relying on the SCO Demonstration Zone. Based on the agricultural resource endowments of the five Central Asian countries, the huge space of the domestic market, the layout of the China-Europe train and Guoxin Group in China's circulation, storage capacity and other aspects, this paper discusses how to build a modern food supply chain led by enterprises through the layout of grain and oil bases in Central Asia, the development of order agriculture, the construction of logistics hub warehouses, and the export of modern agricultural machinery and characteristic high-quality food. Undertake the function of linking the international and domestic double circulation hubs, smooth the domestic and international two-way circulation channels, realize the effective docking of supply and demand and the coordinated development of the supply chain industry chain, promote the value chain to move towards the middle and high end, and strengthen the toughness of the supply chain industry chain.

Second, expand the space for trade and technical cooperation of green and efficient aquatic products, strengthen the construction of green and efficient aquaculture modes such as aquaculture boats, land-based circulating water and the supply capacity of safe and high-quality aquatic products such as tilapia, salmon, large yellow croaker, and assist the five countries in Central Asia in building a modern, standardized and green aquaculture base through the technical advisory services and output of land-based circulating aquaculture, Effectively solve the constraints and constraints on the development of aquaculture industry caused by the increasingly severe shortage of water resources, build a aquatic product trade system that matches the local production and supply, and international trade, help to improve the consumption level of high-quality aquatic products in the five Central Asian countries, and optimize the dietary and nutritional structure of the people.