The Belt and Road Agricultural Cooperation and Development Forum, co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and Xinhua News Agency, was held in Beijing on Sept. 21. Ma Youxiang, Vice Minister of MARA, attended the forum and delivered remarks.   

Vice Minister Ma said in the decade since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed, China has actively engaged in agricultural cooperation with partner countries, yielding concrete and substantial results. Economic and trade cooperation has steadily deepened, with China’s investment in partner countries’ agricultural sectors exceeding 14 billion US dollars and annual two-way trade reaching 139.4 billion US dollars. Talent exchange has been active, with China dispatching over 2,000 agricultural experts and technicians to more than 70 countries and regions. The fruits of agricultural cooperation under the BRI framework have benefited the people of all participating countries and have contributed significantly to global food security.  

Vice Minister Ma said to deepen agricultural cooperation under the BRI framework and bolster global food security and sustainable development, it is essential to: 1) further improve agricultural cooperation mechanisms and boost dialogue and exchange within multilateral and bilateral frameworks; 2) expand economic and trade cooperation in agriculture, propel the opening-up and integration of the agricultural sector, and enhance trade facilitation; 3) explore new areas of agricultural cooperation and adopt innovative approaches toward cooperation in sustainable agriculture and other fields; and 4) deepen cooperation in food and agricultural governance, and join hands to implement the Global Development Initiative and promote transformation of the food system.  

Ren Weidong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency, Fu Wanjun, President of the Agricultural Bank of China, and Rahamtalla M. Osman, Permanent Representative of the African Union to China, attended the forum and delivered remarks. Envoys from countries such as Chile and representatives from international organizations, government officials, experts, scholars, and business representatives from both home and abroad, also attended.