Technological cooperation leads to closer China-Africa economic, trade ties

At the Longping Rice Museum in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, a 20,000 ariary banknote from Madagascar bears silent testimony to an agricultural revolution. Emblazoned with hybrid rice imagery, this currency artifact – presented by Madagascar's Ambassador to Chin Jean Louis Robinson in 2022 – encapsulates a partnership transcending geography.

For decades, Madagascar's struggle with food self-sufficiency persisted, constrained by seed limitations, antiquated farming methods, and infrastructural gaps. The breakthrough came through a strategic handoff: China's hybrid rice expertise, honed by the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, transitioned to Yuan's High-tech Seed Co., Ltd. for commercial deployment via its Madagascar hybrid rice demonstration center. This pivot catalyzed wide adoption of hybrid rice cultivation in the country.

A 20,000 ariary banknote from Madagascar, featuring a hybrid rice illustration, is housed in the Longping Rice Museum in Changsha, central China's Hunan province. (Photo provided by the Longping Rice Museum)

According to Wan Jueming, executive deputy general manager of Yuan's High-tech Seed Co., Ltd., the company has established a fully localized hybrid rice industrial chain in Madagascar, covering seed production, breeding, planting, processing, and sales. In Nigeria's Kano State, it has set up a joint venture seed company to independently manage the entire hybrid rice industrial chain. Besides, in Malanje province, Angola, the company is collaborating with local enterprises to develop a 10,000-hectare hybrid rice industrial park. To date, Yuan's High-tech Seed Co., Ltd. has promoted hybrid rice cultivation across 80,000 hectares in Africa.

The collaboration yielded an unexpected synergy. While transforming rice cultivation, the company recognized Madagascar's premium yet undervalued mutton. In September 2024, history quietly unfolded as the first African lamb shipment reached Hunan – a tangible symbol of reciprocal exchange emerging from agricultural innovation.

Another key player in supporting African agricultural development with advanced technology is Longping High-tech, a Chinese agricultural company named after Yuan Longping, affectionately known as the "father of hybrid rice"– the revered pioneer whose hybrid rice breakthroughs reshaped global food security. This modern inheritor of Yuan's vision is redefining South-South cooperation through innovative partnership models that intertwine technology transfer with human capital development.

The company's footprint now spans 53 African nations, where its over 200 training sessions have cultivated expertise among more than 7,000 agricultural specialists.

Weng Yong, deputy head of the company's international training academy, articulates the philosophy underpinning their approach: Superior seeds form the foundation, but true agricultural resilience blossoms only when paired with adapted cultivation wisdom.

Beyond the realm of technological innovation, structural frameworks now anchor the deepening symbiosis between Chinese and African economies. The China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo –institutionalized through its permanent exhibition hall in Changsha's Yuhua district–manifests this evolution. Within the exhibition hall, visitors navigate a sensory mosaic of transcontinental commerce: South African vintages, Guinean djembe drums, and countless other items of cultural-economic exchange.

Hunan Province, having hosted three editions of the Expo, leverages this platform to recalibrate South-South trade dynamics. The Yuhua block of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone Changsha Area has transformed into a living atlas of African commerce, with its shelves curating goods from 53 African nations.

The block has also launched the "African Brand Warehouse" project and, in 2024, expanded imports to include cassava, pineapples, avocados, and other African agricultural and food products.

Photo shows the Coffee Street, an African coffee trade center, in the Gaoqiao Grand Market in Changsha, central China's Hunan province. (Photo/Gu Pengbo)

Additionally, Xiangjiang New Area in Hunan has inaugurated a China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base, providing office space and a full suite of supporting services, including property management, business assistance, and resource matchmaking, to help young entrepreneurs grow and thrive.

The base birthed narratives like that of Mali's Aboubacar Garba Konte– graduating from the University of Science and Technology Beijing, he joined the base in June 2023 with his solar-powered motorcycle project, embarking on his entrepreneurial journey in Hunan.

"Today, I am not only a key manager at Mali's project incubation station but have also successfully facilitated the export of Malian sesame and other products to China," said Konte. He is now in discussions with a Hunan-based new energy company to jointly launch a solar power system project in Mali, aiming to alleviate local electricity shortages.

"Africa-China cooperation is bringing tangible improvements to our lives," he told People's Daily.

According to Li Weimin, director of the foreign science and technology exchange center of Hunan Xiangjiang New Area, the base has established connections with over 200 government agencies, business associations, and enterprises from more than 50 African countries. It has also introduced innovation and entrepreneurship project incubation stations from 8 African nations, including Tanzania, Egypt, and Nigeria.

The base has facilitated the export of drones, solar products, wigs, and bags from Mali's incubation station while continuously expanding imports of Ethiopian, Rwandan, and Kenyan coffee, Rwandan dried chili peppers and other products.

In June this year, Changsha will host the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. Rebecca Miano, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife of Kenya, emphasized that economic and trade cooperation lays a solid foundation for Africa-China mutual benefit and win-win development, helping both sides move towards a more competitive and sustainable future.