Secretary-General Chen Dehai Attended the 2018 China-ASEAN Agricultural Production Industry Summit Forum

On 7 December 2018, the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) co-hosted the 2018 China-ASEAN Agricultural Production Industry Summit Forum with All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC) at Xiyuan Hotel in Beijing. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ACC and Mr. Wang Wei, Vice Minister of the Council of ACFSMC attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. About 120 representatives from the ASEAN embassies in China, Chinese and foreign industries, business associations and enterprises, as well as experts in agricultural economics and trade attended the forum.

In his speech, Vice Minister Wang Wei said that the agricultural cooperation between ASEAN and China enjoys solid foundation and covers a wide range of fields. ASEAN has always been an important partner of China’s foreign trade and economic cooperation in agricultural industry. With the theme of “Deepening Agricultural Economic and Trade Cooperation and Enhancing China-ASEAN Exchange and Development”, the forum aims at enhancing practical cooperation between ASEAN and China in various fields including agriculture, economy and trade, promoting regional cooperation to accelerate the joint building ofthe Belt and Road and achieve win-win development.

Secretary-General Chen Dehai mentioned that agriculture is an important area for economic and trade cooperation between ASEAN and China. Both sides are rich in agricultural resources, have strong complementarities and broad prospects for cooperation. He emphasized that the two sides should strengthen cooperation to upgrade the level of agricultural technology promotion and application, accelerate the construction of professional and efficient agricultural product trading platforms and networks, and extend the industrial cooperation chain to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. ACC will continue to give full play to its role as a one-stop information and activities centre, and work hand in hand with friends from all walks of life to uplift ASEAN- China practical cooperation to a new level.

At the forum, experts and scholars from the Foreign Economic Cooperation Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, and the China-ASEAN Chamber of Agricultural Commerce (CACAC) made reports on such topics as China-ASEAN agricultural cooperation, the current foreign trade situation, and the development and transformation of China’s agricultural industry. Officials from the embassies of ASEAN Member States including Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand made presentation respectively on their national agricultural policies, economic and trade investment environmentand market potentials.

During the forum, the unveilingceremony of the International Water Soluble Fertilizer Branch of the CACAC and the awarding ceremony of the Top 10 Water-Soluble Fertilizer Enterprises and the Top 100 Fertilizer Import and Export Trade Enterprises inChinaof 2017 were held.