Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that in recent years, the two sides have made significant progress in technical assistance, transfer of advanced agricultural technology, construction of agricultural parks and the promotion of crops such as hybrid rice.

These efforts, he said, contributed to improving food security in Africa by enriching people’s ‘grain bags’ and ‘vegetable baskets’ and boosting agricultural modernization on the continent.

Mao Ning also stressed that cooperation in agriculture is just one part of the extensive exchanges between the two sides.

‘China has been Africa’s top trading partner for 15 consecutive years and has signed cooperation agreements under the Belt and Road Initiative with 52 African countries and the African Union Commission,’ she added.

The spokeswoman stressed that China launched initiatives to support the industrialization of the continent, plans for agricultural modernization and cooperation programs in talent training.

‘The collaboration between the two regions is expanding to new emerging fields such as digital, green, aeronautics and finance, which has contributed to Africa’s socio-economic development and the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants,’ she noted.

The upcoming summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Forum (Focac 2024) will deepen and expand bilateral cooperation and write a new chapter in building a community of shared destiny between the two regions, said the spokeswoman.

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