The third China–CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Ministerial Forum on Agriculture was held in Weifang, Shandong Province, on July 2. Han Jun, Secretary of the CPC Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), delivered a speech via video link. A total of 290 individuals attended the forum, including 24 ministers or vice ministers and 13 ambassadors from 25 countries, and representatives from domestic and international agricultural research institutes, companies, and regional organizations.  

Secretary Han noted that since President Xi Jinping's historic meeting with CELAC leaders 10 years ago, China and CELAC have achieved significant results in bilateral agricultural cooperation. The role of the China–CELAC Ministerial Forum on Agriculture has been continuously strengthened, with China establishing bilateral agricultural cooperation mechanisms with 19 CELAC countries. Economic and trade cooperation in agriculture has grown rapidly, while cooperation in areas such as agricultural mechanization, new variety breeding and promotion, and rice production has deepened. China–CELAC agro-trade doubled to over 81 billion dollars from 2014 to 2023. The two sides have achieved great coordination on issues such as food security, green and low-carbon development, and trade facilitation, thus sounding a strong “China–CELAC voice.”  

To further enhance China–CELAC cooperation in agriculture and fishery, Secretary Han put forth four initiatives:   

1) Step up efforts to align strategies and build mechanisms; plan and implement a number of agricultural cooperation projects on food security, green development, and other issues of common concern.   

2) Boost agro-trade and investment cooperation; strive to double the value of agro-trade over the next decade.   

3) Strengthen sci-tech exchange and capacity building with a focus on areas such as agricultural mechanization, soil health, green development, and aquaculture.   

4) Deepen cooperation in poverty reduction and promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, to make a bigger contribution to building a world free of poverty and hunger.  

The forum's theme was “Promote Mutually Beneficial Multilateral Cooperation, Achieve Win-Win Green Development.” The forum also included thematic meetings on economic and trade cooperation in agriculture and poverty reduction and development. The China–CELAC Ministerial Consensus on Agricultural Priority Areas and the Action Plan on Strengthening China–CELAC Agricultural Cooperation were released.  

Ma Youxiang, Vice Minister of MARA, chaired the forum. Chen Ping, Vice Governor of the Shandong Provincial People’s Government, attended the forum along with heads of various departments within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.