China Daily:

In January 2024, the State Council approved the overall plan for the construction of the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. Could you introduce the plans for the next stage? Thank you.

Mao Weiming:

Thank you for your question. Let's invite Mr. Chen to answer.

Chen Xianchun:

Thank you for your question. Hunan's relationship with Africa spans over 1,000 years and is marked by deep and longstanding friendship, a foundation of complementary strengths, and broad market potential. In 2019, Hunan became the permanent host city of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and has hosted three editions. As a result of hosting this expo, Hunan has become one of the most active provinces in China for economic and trade activities with Africa. Hunan has ranked eighth nationwide and first in the central and western regions for five consecutive years in terms of trade volume with Africa. The annual growth rate over the past three years was 23.1%, ranking at the forefront in China.

The Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation has been approved by the State Council, providing Hunan province with an important opening-up platform for serving the national economic development strategy. With a vision to build the pilot zone into a testing ground and model area for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, we will focus on the following three aspects.

First, we aim to realize mutual benefit through the integration of production and trade. We will expedite the construction of public overseas warehouses in Africa and inspect and test laboratory systems. We will enhance cooperation on integrated production, supply, and trade. We will also help enterprises accelerate the development of non-resource-based product processing projects. We will assist more African agricultural products gain access to the Chinese market. Simultaneously, we will organize Hunan's competitive industries and quality goods to actively and steadily enter the African market.

Second, we will achieve mutual benefits through institutional innovation. We will actively carry out pilot policies and differentiated explorations in economic and trade cooperation with Africa, promoting greater China-Africa trade and investment facilitation at a higher level. We will carry out pilot programs to facilitate new types of barter trade with Africa, improving the model of "overseas warehouses plus local currency settlement of offshore accounts" and addressing difficulties in cross-border settlement. We will make full use of the China-Africa Cross-border E-commerce Service Center to help Hunan e-commerce platforms accelerate the localization process in Africa. We will enhance the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal transport service and promote the formulation of multimodal logistics standards and rules between China and Africa.

Third, we will promote mutual learning through cultural exchanges. Since the launch of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, we have organized a series of thematic activities on cultural tourism, women, and youth innovation and entrepreneurship, effectively promoting cultural exchange and mutual trust and cooperation between China and Africa. A batch of African embassies, consulates, as well as national chambers of commerce and associations have been established in Hunan. We will leverage Hunan's advantage in foreign aid training and platforms such as the Vocational Education Alliance for China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation and strengthen human resources and professional skills training for Africa. We will develop unique cultural and creative products for Africa and harness the media cooperation advantages of Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV in Africa to spearhead the Hunan-Africa cultural communication in film and television, in a bid to better tell the stories of China and Hunan.

Next, we will further deepen and improve the long-term mechanism for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and exchange, making efforts to build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future. Thank you.