2010-08-12 16:15

Close cooperation in the field of agriculture has opened a new chapter in the Sino-African relationship. The two sides have vowed to deepen strategic ties in the new century, and effective partnership in the agricultural field will lay a solid foundation.

The need is more pressing now, as it will help both better cope with world food security concerns.

China and Africa have opened yet another broad platform to further their cooperation with the China-Africa Agriculture Cooperation Forum, which concludes Thursday. The forum offers opportunities for Chinese and African businesses to discuss various cooperation mechanisms and expand its scope.

Apart from the Beijing Declaration, a series of agreements and letters of intent will be signed at the summit.

The forum is further testimony to China's sincerity in forging ahead a win-win relationship with African nations.

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As the largest developing country feeding the world's biggest population, China has also continued its efforts to impart agricultural know-how to African nations by way of technology and skill transfers.

At the Beijing Summit and the 3rd Ministerial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2006, the nation had pledged to construct 10 technology demonstration centers. The figure was expanded to 20 during the 4th Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC in Egypt in 2009.

To date, 14 demonstration centers have already been established in Africa, and more than 4,200 native African technical personnel have been trained since 2004.

There is every reason to believe that Sino-African cooperation in agriculture too will bear fruit, based as it is on the principles of equality, mutual benefit, respect and the pursuit of joint development.