Hunan province and Africa work together to develop an ever-stronger relationship
The fourth Investing in Africa Forum, which is being held in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, from Thursday to Saturday, is expected to promote sustainable growth and shared prosperity through enhanced China-Africa cooperation.
In 2015, the first session of the forum was held in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. The next two forums were held in Dakar, capital of Senegal and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province.
An expressway in Algeria is under construction. Hunan's Shaoyang Roads and Bridges Corp is one of the contractors. Photos Provided to China Daily
Left: Xu Dazhe, governor of Hunan, visited the Hunan Industrial Park in Ethiopia during his tour of the country in June. Right: Yuan Longping,a renowned agricultural scientist from Hunan, shares his knowledge with African researchers.
Left: A delegation from Hunan visits Uganda to explore trade and business cooperation. Right: Farming machines made in Hunan are used in Africa for improving the efficiency of local agriculture.
This year's event aims at sharing the experiences in development between China and Africa, and encouraging more Chinese companies to invest in the African continent. Major topics at the forum include the modernization of agriculture, culture and education, climate change, new energy, medical and heath care, digital economy and innovation.
Leaders and senior officials from African countries and China, the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and other international organizations, financial institutes, companies and think tanks will attend the forum.
The event is organized by the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the Hunan provincial government, China Development Bank and the World Bank.
Over three days, roundtable conferences, panels, promotional events for investment projects, a news conference and the opening and closing ceremonies will be held.
Officials from the Hunan government said that the province's major industries are easily able to meet the demands of Africa in agriculture, mining, infrastructure construction and equipment manufacturing.
Hunan has strong technological competence in such fields as hybrid rice, high-speed and maglev trains, and supercomputing, where research, development and production have reached globally advanced levels.
From 2008 to 2017, companies in Hunan invested about $7.96 billion in Africa. A total of 91 local companies have investment projects in Africa.
The Hunan Industrial Park in Ethiopia, which opened in the city of Adama, has attracted many projects in manufacturing, construction and agriculture so far.
The province has also hosted many business matching and friendly exchange events since 2015 for companies and entrepreneurs from Hunan and Africa.
Of all Chinese provinces and regions, Hunan has carried out the largest number of training programs for developing countries. In 2017, the number of overseas trainees surpassed 4,000, with more than 75 percent from Africa.
Data from the local government showed that exports from Hunan to Africa reached about $1.2 billion last year, 2.5 times higher than in 2008; imports from Africa grew 4.7 times to surpass $870 million during the same period.
"African people and Hunan people are old friends. The cooperation between Hunan and Africa has a long history and promises a bright future," said Guo Xiuhong, deputy Party chief of the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance.
In recent years, senior officials from the two regions have had frequent communications. The forum will dig deeper into the potential of future collaboration that will help to realize win-win results, Guo added.
Hunan province is about 211,000 square kilometers in area, ranking seventh nationwide. Its economic aggregate exceeded 3 trillion yuan ($438 billion) last year.
Editor:Cherie
