By Staf Reporter Wang Zhe

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China-ASEAN Agro Cooperation Promising

By Staf Reporter Wang Zhe

Walking in the streets of Bangkok， one can smell the enticing aroma of Hainan chicken rice wafing out from roadside food stalls. Tis is the “chemical reaction” occurring between Chinese Wenchang Chicken and Thai Fragrant Rice， the best example of Sino-local agriculture integration.

In ancient times， agriculture played an important role in trade between China and Southeast Asia. Merchant ships travelling along the Maritime Silk Road brought the rice，pepper and sugar produced in Southeast Asia to China， where they would be loaded with the silk， chinaware， tea and preserved fruits before returning home. Regions like Hainan in China had never been able to produce enough food for local consumption， and， from the 14th century， rice had to be imported from Southeast Asia as a supplement.

There are differences between China and ASEAN countries in geography， climate and economic development. However， they have a common cultural tradition in many regards. Both sides are thus given a rare opportunity for agriculture cooperation with great potential.

At the China-ASEAN Agricultural Means of Production Industry Summit earlier this year， Zheng Yougui， a research fellow of the Institute of Contemporary Studies under Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， told this reporter that both China and ASEAN countries have their own advantages in agriculture. ASEAN's rice can help China deal with the insufficiency of this staple food， while China can strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in such felds as fshery， especially deep sea fsher. In addition， there are broad prospects for bilateral cooperation in agricultural technology，machinery， trade， etc.

Wonderful Platform

The 12th CAEXPO Agricultural Exhibition held in the Guangxi Exhibition Hall this year was actually a display of various tasty foods， including animal husbandry and fshery products，quality fruits， green farm produce， foodstuff， tea， and coffee. The most famous agricultural brands from China and ASEAN countries，including Malaysia， Vietnam， Tailand， and the Philippines， were all on display.

The China-ASEAN quality fruit promotional activity was the most popular. There is remarkable market potential in fruits trading. More enterprises from both sides are trying to enter each other's market through the CAEXPO Agricultural Exhibition. “Thailand imports 200，000 tons of fruits and 100，000 tons of vegetables from China annually，” said Surmasuk Salakpetch， Thai Deputy Minister of Agriculture， adding that Thailand also has been exporting 600，000 tons of tropical fruits to China annually， and the fgure is on the increase year on year.

Southeast Asia is internationally recognized as the main producing area for good coffee. Blessed with favorable natural conditions， this part of the world is home to numerous brands with high yield， good quality， and special taste， which enjoys a high reputation in China. This exhibition brought major cofee brands from Malaysia， Vietnam，Thailand， the Philippines and other ASEAN countries together， creating a good opportunity for visitors to try coffee with a unique Southeast Asian flavor and get to know the time-honored cofee culture there.

As 2015 marks the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Year， the show for quality animal husbandry and fishery products constitutes an important part of the Agricultural Exhibition. Almost all competitive aquatic products， seafood， and animal husbandry products from China and ASEAN were on display， providing more business opportunities for both sides.

In front of the exhibition booth for Guangxi sericulture industry， Wei Wei， Deputy Chief of the Guangxi Sericulture Technology Promotion Station， told this reporter that he brought a series of quality cocoon silk products to the exhibition in order to exchange experience with his counterparts from Vietnam，Tailand， and Laos， who are all experienced in this regard to seek common progress.

Both visitors and exhibitors agree the CAEXPO Agriculture Exhibition has become the best and most professional platform to facilitate cooperation on agricultural trade between China and ASEAN.

According to the Belt and Road Initiative， exchanges and cooperation on agriculture， an important task of FTAAP construction， is of great significance for boosting mutual understanding and cooperative development between China and ASEAN countries.

Closer Sci-Tech Cooperation

Recent years have seen more Chinese agricultural technology introduced to ASEAN countries， which has built a reputation with the passage of time. According to insiders， along with the increasingly close cooperation between the two sides，there is still much room for future maneuver.

The cooperation between the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences（G X A A S） a n d Vietnam started from the 1990s. In 2000，GXAAS sent Dr. Lu Ronghua to Vietnam to establish the Sino-Vietnam Agricultural Comprehensive Technology Demonstration，Research and Promotion Base. At present， Dr. Lu， who is now engaged in ASEAN agricultural technology research， goes on a business trip to ASEAN countries， in particular Vietnam，almost every month， working together with his colleagues to build a bridge of communication for agricultural cooperation.

The above project in which Dr. Lu is participating is actually the first agricultural comprehensive technology demonstration base China has successfully built in Vietnam. By virtue of this project， China's new crop varieties and technologies have been smoothly piloted and promoted. It has become an important platform for China to study the agricultural product market in Vietnam and other ASEAN countries and promote Chinese new crop varieties and technologies.

The hybrid seed of maize HK4 independently bred by Chinese experts was adopted by Vietnam in 2009， thus becoming China's frst hybrid maize seed recognized by Vietnam. The hybrid seed of rice HKT99 was also recognized by Vietnam. Due to the establishment of the joint Base， the Chinese agricultural departments selected 17 rice combinations and 16 vegetable varieties appropriate for Central and Northern Vietnam， which have been well received.

On Dec 23， 2014， the signing ceremony of the Sino-Cambodia Agriculture Promotion Center， the largest agricultural project China has so far built for Cambodia， was held in Phnom Penh. This project was undertaken by the Guangxi Forward Agriculture Technology International Cooperation Company. Over years of hard work， Chinese experts selected proper rice varieties and grew samples in Cambodia. Local farmers and enterprises were invited to the feld trials for a better understanding. Tese trials have been successful. Now these rice varieties are playing a positive role in enhancing the rice yield in Cambodia.

Guangxi Agricultural Vocational College has worked together with Champasak Province of Laos to build a 60-hectare Laos-China Agricultural Cooperation Experimental Base. A batch of state-of-the-art agricultural technologies， varieties and facilities were thus introduced to Laos. Moreover， as the training school for Lao farmers and teaching practice base of the Higher Agriculture and Forestry School of Southern Laos， this experimental base has provided training opportunities for thousands of local residents.

China's Ministry of Agriculture also set up a Laos-China Superior Crop Variety Experiment Station within the base to encourage more cooperation on crop seed reproduction， crop germplasm resources， and crop variety combined testing.

An ofcial of the Agricultural Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region told this reporter that， in the first half of this year， the station had planted experimentally 128 crop varieties， including maize， rice， vegetable， Hami melon， and grape， on the basis of the organic farming mode while preliminarily selecting a batch of fine varieties suitable for Laos. Of them， the Hami melon， subject to soilless organic farming mode and integration of water and fertilizer， was the frst success. At the First Hami Melon Festival held in April 2015，the newly-bred melon was in short supply.

Since 2005， the China Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences （CATAS） has introduced over 1，000 varieties of quality germplasm from Southeast Asia， including tropical ornamenting plants， cassava， pineapple， vegetables， fruit trees， tropical forage， and cashew nut. Picheat Prommoon， director of the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand， said that， about three years ago， Tailand began to conduct cooperation and exchanges with the CATAS on rubber technology， providing fve fne rubber varieties to China and working with Chinese experts to seek wind-resistant rubber varieties in South America.

According to Yang Yafei， director of the Rural Development Institute of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences， along with the continuous progress of China's Belt and Road Initiative， agricultural cooperation will be boosted further.

On July 6， 2015， experts from India， the Philippines， Myanmar， Thailand， Indonesia and Bangladesh， visited Yihuang County， Jiangxi Province， a national-level hybrid rice breeding base， to exchange views with Chinese counterparts and local farmers.

Long-term Partnership

In an interview， Li Dianping， President of the China-ASEAN Chamber of Agricultural Commerce （CACAC）， pointed out that， in cooperation and exchanges with ASEAN countries， Chinese agricultural enterprises are currently confronted with these issues:

1. The absence of effective and authoritative information channels makes it difcult to effectively and accurately collect information on relevant policies and regulations， markets， industries，products and cooperation opportunities in ASEAN countries；

2. Decentralized cooperation and exchanges cannot generate benefts on a large scale；

3. As there are not enough cooperation platforms in place， it is not easy for Chinese agricultural enterprises to conduct face-toface communication with their ASEAN counterparts.

“Our major task is to help establish a long-term and stable cooperative partnership between agro enterprises in China and ASEAN， further improve the exchange， communication and coordination mechanism for information sharing， fully tap the potential of‘Internet Plus'， and actively explore the way to conduct online agro cooperation，” said Li.

“We'll work harder to gain government support and seek for the omni-directional，multi-layered and extensive agricultural exchanges and cooperation. We plan to organize promotion activities for Chinese famous brands in the field of agricultural means of production in ASEAN countries and introduce their quality agricultural products to the Chinese market in a bid to achieve the twoway fow of agricultural means of production and products.”