The Second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province, is poised to maximize cooperation opportunities between China and Africa at a time when COVID-19 is hampering international interactions.

In a recent interview with ChinAfrica, Shen Yumou, Deputy Executive General Secretary of the Secretariat of the CAETE Organizing Committee and Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Hunan Provincial Department of Commerce, spoke about the expo's preparation and Hunan's determination to further tighten business ties with Africa. An edited excerpt of the interview follows:

ChinAfrica: What are the highlights of the Second CAETE compared to the first one?

Shen Yumou: For this year's expo, we highlight building the online version of the expo for foreign guests who are unable to show up in person. It will include online conferences, exhibitions and trading. There will be promotion provinces, which we didn't have in the first expo. Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces will be specially promoted as part of our effort to build the expo into a platform for cooperation with Africa open to all other places across the country.

We will add a new world-class facility, Changsha International Conference Center, as a venue for the expo. In Changsha Convention and Exhibition Center, which was also a venue for the first expo, we will have an exhibition area of 64,000 square meters, 24,000 more than for the first session. In addition to these main venues, a branch venue will be set up in the Gaoqiao Grand Market. In the various exhibitions, we will allocate more room for displaying products.

Another highlight is our measures to secure a fruitful expo. We will continue to implement the agreements reached at the first expo. For the first time, we will compile a report on China-Africa relations on economic cooperation and trade. Like the first expo, we will collect successful cases on China-Africa economic cooperation and trade, exhibit them and hold a press conference to publish them. In parallel with the expo, we will promote the construction of the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, the core mission of which is to build distribution, trading and processing centers for African non-resource products.

We will hold multiple festivals, contests and other activities to help Chinese companies and consumers learn more about African products. To help African companies that wish to participate, subsidies will be provided to African exhibitors that meet relevant criteria, and volunteers will help African companies that send samples to China but are unable to participate in person. We will also provide enterprises with our online exhibition platforms free of charge, which will function even after the expo is closed.

What are the considerations behind Hunan's decision to hold the expo despite the COVID-19 pandemic?

In his visit to Hunan in September last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping encouraged Hunan to deepen opening up and forge permanent mechanisms for economic cooperation with Africa. He urged us to integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative and promote the innovation and development of foreign trade.

As the first one of the Eight Major Initiatives from the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), CAETE is a new platform for implementing measures of the forum. It operates in line with the need of FOCAC and China-Africa cooperation in general. The next FOCAC meeting will be held in Senegal at the end of this year, and the expo will lay foundations, make preparations, and create the atmosphere for the forum.

Holding the expo is in the interest of boosting China-Africa economic cooperation. In the joint fight against the pandemic, China and Africa have consolidated their brotherhood and elevated their relationship to a new level. Since the pandemic was largely contained, economic cooperation and trade has rebounded strongly, and investment and infrastructure cooperation have achieved positive growth. This reflects the resilience and vitality of China-Africa cooperation, and the strong demand of China and Africa's business communities to expand cooperation. This has strengthened our confidence in overcoming the impact of the pandemic and successfully hosting the second expo.

Holding the expo also benefits Hunan's development. The province is forging itself into a highland of reform and opening up in China's inland regions. As an international platform, the expo can showcase the openness of Hunan. The expo will also help with Hunan's mission to build the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, which is one of the three major tasks for the Hunan Free Trade Zone. Of China's 21 free trade zones, the Hunan Free Trade Zone is the only one that specifically targets at cooperating with Africa. We expect the expo to make our progress with the pioneer zone known to the whole country and Africa, and attract national resources related to Africa to Hunan.

How do you see the result of the first expo? What important progress has Hunan made in promoting China-Africa economic cooperation in the past two years?

The first expo, held from June 27 to 29 in 2019, saw more than 110 ministerial-level African officials and more than 10,000 Chinese and foreign guests participate in the event. Eighty-one cooperation agreements were signed with a total value of $20.12 billion.

During the years that followed, Hunan's trade with Africa has grown rapidly. The total volume of trade with Africa has increased from the 14th among all provinces in China in 2018 to the eighth in the first half of 2021 and number one in the central region. The growth rate is the highest in the country.

We have accelerated building the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Innovation Demon­stration Park. The first stage of the park has been completed and put into use, with 98 leading enterprises and business associations settled in the park. Our distributing, trading and processing centers for African non-resource products have yielded their first results. The cocoa trading center has achieved a trade volume of $272 million since its establishment last year. The distributing and deep processing park in the city of Liuyang is to start building an industry chain for African coffee. Rwandan dried peppers have been approved to enter the Chinese market.

Based on the platform of the expo, the customs of China and Uganda signed China's first mutual AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) recognition arrangements with Africa. Breakthroughs have been made in barter trade with Africa. In July this year, the first trial barter trade order worth $210,000 was successfully completed, with building materials, small commodities, and jeans in exchange for South African grapefruit.

We have made progress in building the China-Africa cross-border renminbi service center, and are working with banks in Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya and Malawi for cross-border clearing with renminbi.

We have established service centers in Algeria, Kenya and Nigeria, and established ties with government departments and industry associations in these countries. We have helped with the export of Nigerian sesame, Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee beans, and Algerian olive oil to China, and the photovoltaic industrial park in Nigeria.

We have reinforced research on economic cooperation and trade with Africa. We have established China-Africa Economic and Trade Promotion Council, Industrial and Vocational Colleges' Alliance of China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, and China-Africa Economic & Trade Research Institute. 

(Printed Edition Title: Mounting Platform)

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