The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) held a press conference on building a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation on the afternoon of January 31, 2024. The conference presented information on the General Plan for Building a Pioneering Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation.

Building a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade cooperation was proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2021. The zone is one of the nine programs under the FOCAC framework. Recently, the State Council approved the general plan jointly compiled by MOFCOM and the People's Government of Hunan Province. Following its role as the host venue for the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, Hunan has established the pioneering zone as another significant national platform for cooperation with Africa.  This step has milestone significance for Hunan's reform and opening up process.

The general plan outlines that by 2027, the pioneering zone is expected to be a significant international platform for opening up and cooperation with Africa.  By 2035, it aims to evolve into a globally competitive economic and trade hub for collaboration with Africa, as a prominent driving force for development and an extensive point of convergence of resources from all sides.

The plan specifies that the pioneering zone will build six centers around "three areas and one hall", said Jiang Wei, director of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of MOFCOM. He explained that the "three areas" refer to an area for innovation in economic and trade cooperation with Africa, an area for leading in-depth economic and trade cooperation with Africa, and an area for undertaking industrial chain cooperation with Africa. The "one hall" indicates a meeting point for economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with Africa. The six centers are: the African non-resource product distribution and trading center, the China-Africa cross-border e-commerce cooperation center, the China-Africa industrial chain incubation center, the China-Africa financial cooperation center, the China-Africa logistical cooperation center in western and central China, and the China-Africa economic and trade exchange promotion center.

Meanwhile, the pioneering zone will leverage the infrastructural and policy innovations of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, to actively carry out preliminary and pilot implementation and differential exploration of economic and trade cooperation policies with Africa. It will give full play to Hunan's industrial and geographical advantages, to build an "experimental field" for local cooperation with Africa, replicating and extending it to a wider scope, and promoting the province as an effective role model.  Hunan is set to play a crucial role in elevating China-Africa economic and trade cooperation to new levels of efficiency and integration.

Hunan Province has shown an impressive annual average growth rate of 23.1% in economic and trade cooperation with Africa in the past three years. The province’s competitive industries such as equipment manufacturing; energy and mining; road, bridge, and building construction; and agricultural development have collectively tapped into the African market. Hunan’s technologies and products such as hybrid rice and construction machinery have enjoyed popularity in Africa.

The circular urged the People's Government of Hunan Province to intensify organization and leadership in building the pioneering zone, said Guo Ning, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province. He noted that Hunan has strived to lay out implementation plans and supportive policies, forming a roadmap, timetable, and mission statement to advance economic and trade cooperation with Africa. Efforts will be made to create benchmarks and demonstrations in such fields as investment and trade, production capacity partnership, digital economy, international logistics, and cultural and tourism exchanges between China and Africa; to improve the long-term mechanism of economic and trade cooperation and exchanges with Africa; and, to form a batch of new cooperation experiences and practices that can be generalized and replicated, he added.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn