Changsha, March 12 (chinanews.com) -- Reporter Lu Yi: How quickly can a dried anchovy from Kenya transform into the spicy and flavorful "Jinzai Deep-Sea Baby Fish" in the hands of Chinese consumers? The answer is less than a week. After initial processing by Hunan-based factories in the place of origin, products are exported to Hunan for further processing before entering the market. A complete industrial chain covering direct sourcing, warehousing, logistics, processing and distribution has enabled the rapid realization of the above scenario.

As the permanent host of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the base for the Pilot Region for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation, Hunan has facilitated market access for a range of high-quality African agricultural and food products like Rwandan dried chili and Malagasy lamb to China. Through establishing the "African Brand Warehouse", multiple import chains for African products such as Ethiopian coffee beans, Rwandan chili and South African cashews have been formed.

From facilitating market access for high-quality products to establishing the "African Brand Warehouse", from launching direct passenger and cargo flight to opening the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal transport corridor, from technical assistance to co-building African industrial chains... Hunan has innovated and explored pathways for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, and become one of China's most active provinces in economic and trade engagement with Africa. Over the past three years, Hunan's economic and trade cooperation with Africa has grown at an average annual rate of 23.1%, with trade volume reaching cny 55.67 billion in 2023, ranking first in central and western China.

"Africa is one of the world's markets with the greatest incremental potential", said Li Dianxun, the then Deputy CPC Secretary of Hunan Provincial Committee, during this year's Sessions of NPC & CPPCC, and Hunan will leverage platforms like the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Pilot Zone for In-Depth China-Africa Economic Cooperation to sustain its bridging role in bilateral trade.

Hunan has successfully hosted three sessions of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, with 336 cooperation projects signed totaling $53.32 billion. To promote more practical China-Africa cooperation, the "Into Africa" events of the 2024 China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will be held in Kenya and Nigeria in May and November this year, respectively.

To facilitate trade corridors, Hunan has successively launched passenger routes from the provincial capital Changsha to Nairobi, Kenya; cargo routes to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and relay routes linking Yueyang, a key port city within the province, to Africa; the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal corridor connects to 11 African hub ports and 20 highways/railways leading inland.

Participating in construction of Senegal's Wrestling Arena, Algeria's North-South Freeway and Uganda's Karuma Hydropower Station; successfully piloting hybrid rice cultivation in 16 African countries, including Madagascar, Mozambique and Angola, while engaging in breeding, high-yield demonstration, large-scale planting and technology transfer cooperation; co-building the Ethiopia-Hunan Industrial Park... Hunan's collaboration with Africa has flourished across infrastructure, agriculture, industry, training and the like fields.

Hunan has also launched corporate spot foreign exchange settlement and sales services for six African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and Zambia, and completed China's first transaction of Kenyan shillings remitted to China and converted into renminbi (cny).

In January this year, the State Council of China approved the Master Plan for Building a Pilot Zone for In-Depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. The Plan proposes establish an Africa Non-Resource Product Distribution and Trading Center, a China-Africa cross-border e-commerce cooperation center, a China-Africa industrial chain cultivation center, a China-Africa financial cooperation center, a logistics hub serving central and western China's trade with Africa, and a China-Africa economic and trade exchange promotion center focusing on building an innovation zone for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation models, a pioneering zone for in-depth China-Africa economic and trade collaboration, a hub for China-Africa industrial chain cooperation and a "reception hall" for China-Africa economic and trade exchanges to explore new cooperation models and pathways to develop replicable and scalable innovative practices.

Mr. Li Dianxun stated that upon entry into the new era, Hunan will comprehensively advance cooperation with Africa by enhancing connectivity, expanding bilateral trade, promoting industrial capacity collaboration, innovating financial support, deepening cultural exchanges, and following up with research and consulting services.