City with continental appeal

Changsha plays a key role in expanding bilateral interactions

Since the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in 2019, Changsha's trade with Africa has witnessed robust growth.

Data show that during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), Changsha's cumulative trade with African countries reached $3.79 billion, an average annual growth rate of 30.7 percent. In 2022, trade of Changsha with African countries totaled 24.47 billion yuan ($3.39 billion), an increase of 72.3 percent year-on-year.

The third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo kicked off in the capital city of Hunan province on Thursday.

A combined of 216 cooperative projects with a total value of more than $40 billion were agreed on at the previous two CAETE sessions Changsha hosted. The city is playing a vital role in accelerating China-Africa interactions.

In August 1982, Changsha established a sister-city relationship with Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Starting from Brazzaville, Changsha's circle of friends has spread throughout Africa.

In September 2002, the city established friendly economic and trade cooperation relations with Kimberley, South Africa. In April 2003, Changsha joined hands with Entebbe, Uganda.

In addition, Hunan has also signed friendly agreements with the Oromia region of Ethiopia and the Northern Cape province of South Africa.

The Changsha-based China Construction Fifth Engineering Division Corp is participating in the construction of Congo's "Dream Road" — the National Highway No 1.

The highway goes through Mayombe, a huge virgin forest, where people are scarce and which was long considered an "insurmountable barrier".

Close contact

Despite being distant geographically, the friendship between Changsha and African countries has grown stronger over decades with increasing exchanges in foreign trade, cultural industries, medical education and other fields.

Taking bilateral trade as an example, in recent years, Changsha has created a long-term mechanism for cooperation with African countries, leading to a substantial increase in trade between the two sides.

In 2022, Changsha's trade with Africa reached 24.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.3 percent. Especially, the CAETE has built a good communication bridge for cooperation and exchanges between Changsha and African cities.

To further strengthen exchanges with African countries, deepen China-Africa friendly cooperation and promote the third CAETE, Kang Zhenlin, vice-mayor of Changsha, led an economic and trade delegation to visit Nigeria and Uganda from April 19 to 27.

The visit covered investment and trade promotion meetings, project signings, an inspection of construction projects, and invitations to attend the CAETE, to bolster bilateral relations in trade, investment and culture.

Frank Tumwebaze, Uganda's minister of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries, said that Uganda has certain advantages in agriculture, processing, trade, and human resources, and is willing to deepen cooperation with Hunan and Changsha.

The China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum will be held to sign a framework agreement for friendly cooperation between young people and establish a China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base.

During the expo, the Consulate General of Malawi in Changsha is to be established. This is not only the first consulate general of Malawi in China, but also the first consulate general of an African country in Hunan.

Diverse goods

Changsha's economic and trade exchanges with African countries have become increasingly frequent and its friendships with these countries have deepened.

The permanent exhibition hall of the third CAETE at the Gaoqiao Grand Market in Yuhua district displays various commodities such as roses from Kenya, essential oils from Madagascar, coffee from Ethiopia, wine from South Africa and cosmetics from Senegal.

Located at the Gaoqiao Grand Market, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Innovation Demonstratio Park is the core platform for showcasing the economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.

More than 100 African products are available here, including coffee, cocoa, cashew nuts, small hardware and small agricultural machinery. Thirty-seven African country pavilions have been permanently established in the park, attracting more than 1,000 Chinese and African economic and trade enterprises.

In 2022, the park's enterprises realized a trade volume of 3.27 billion yuan, an increase of 325 percent year-on-year.

"In recent years, Gaoqiao Grand Market has supported the park's enterprises to build full industry chains for African direct procurement, warehousing and logistics, marketing and sales, boosting economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa," said Jiang Shoufang, executive deputy general manager of Hunan Gaoqiao Grand Market.

In the Kenya Pavilion, the exhibition stands are filled with flowers. Kenya is Africa's largest exporter of fresh flowers.

Roses produced in the highlands are especially popular with consumers worldwide.

Building convenient transportation channels across mountains and seas between Changsha and the African continent is key to bolstering economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.