Since last year, as China’s foreign aid for other developing countries was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center of International Cooperation Service (CICOS) under MARA has been moving capacity-building activities online through close coordination with the FAO South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST). On March 16, CICOS and FAO jointly launched an online capacity building initiative aimed at improving food security and the efficiency of the value chain of freshwater fisheries under the FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme. More than 70 representatives from 19 developing countries and FAO attended the opening ceremony. Luo Ming, an official with MARA, Ye Anping, Director of PST, and Audun Lem, Deputy Director of FAO Fisheries Division delivered speeches.

Luo pointed out that China was among the first countries to respond to and participate in the SSC Programme. Thanks to the joint efforts and collaboration with FAO, the FAO-China SSC Programme has achieved notable results, he added. Noting that developing freshwater fisheries is crucial for ensuring food security, Luo hoped that experience and best practices in this regard would be exchanged through this online event, with a view to making the value chain of freshwater fisheries more efficient and promoting shared development.

In his speech, Ye stressed the importance of improving freshwater fish farming for the global economic and agricultural recovery from the pandemic. He hailed this online event as an effective approach to promote practices and experience-sharing among developing countries amid the pandemic, ensure good nutrition and food security, as well as achieve sustainable development goals.

Audun Lem commended CICOS’s efforts to make this event a success, and expressed the wish that China’s sharing of its experience and practices in freshwater fish farming and value chain development would help other developing countries improve their food security.

Xu Pao, Director General of the Freshwater Fisheries Research Centre under the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, gave a presentation on the current status of freshwater fisheries in China and shared the country’s experience in promoting large-scale, sustainable fish farming models based on the development of fishery cooperatives.