On 15 September 2022, the 6th China-ASEAN Agricultural Cooperation Forum was held in Nanning, Guangxi. Mr. Ma Youxiang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Mr. Huang Junhua, Vice Chairman of the Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, H.E. Raja Dato Nushirwan Zainal Abidin, Ambassador of Malaysia to China, and Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), attended the Forum upon invitation.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Ma Youxiang stated that China and ASEAN complement each other in the agricultural sector by their own strengths, which lays the foundation for cooperation between the two sides. After years of efforts, the two sides have made great progress in industrial cooperation in agriculture, with increasing trade volume in agricultural products and expanded mutual investment in agriculture. In the next stage, the two sides need to strengthen policy coordination to ensure regional food security, seize the opportunities brought by the implementation of the RCEP and the construction of the Version 3.0 ASEAN-China FTA to deepen agricultural cooperation in various areas, and accelerate the alignment of countries’ agricultural development plans and goals in order to advance the overall level of agricultural production in this region. 

Secretary-General Chen Dehai spoke highly of the current state of ASEAN-China agricultural cooperation. He said that the agricultural trade between the two sides is growing rapidly, and ways of cooperation are becoming more diverse and innovative. Cooperation mechanisms continue to improve, and areas for agricultural cooperation are extended to cover whole links of the industrial chain. All parties should make full use of the preferential policies related to agriculture under RCEP, actively expand cross-border agricultural investment, optimise the industrial layout and promote ASEAN-China agricultural cooperation to a higher level.

Other guest speakers at the opening ceremony include heads of the agricultural departments in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to China. Guest speakers agreed that in the current international situation, the task of safeguarding food security in the region is urgent and requires the cooperation of all countries in order to deal with the potential food crisis.

During the keynote speech session, representatives from agricultural departments and research institutions in ASEAN Member States (AMS) and China as well as AMS embassies in China discussed and exchanged ideas on topics such as agricultural policies, agricultural science and technology, smart agriculture, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural trade, agricultural response to climate change, fisheries and aquaculture, food security and sustainable agricultural development.

The Forum was co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China and the Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It was held both online and offline, and about 300 people were present at the Forum.