FACILITATING AFRICA'S MODERNIZATION

China's zero-tariff treatment for African countries also builds on 10 partnership actions initiated at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in September 2024. China has consistently acted as a true friend on Africa's path to modernization.

In Niassa Province, northern Mozambique, a new graphite processing plant built and funded by China's Jinan Yuxiao Group is expected to deliver an annual output of 200,000 tonnes. Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said that the project will help his country shift away from a single development model based on raw material exports and promote higher value-added exports.

Agricultural cooperation between China and Mozambique is deepening. In Gaza Province, local farming and farmers have benefited from a partnership with the Wanbao rice farm supported by the China-Africa Development Fund. The yields rise from 1-2 tonnes to 5-7 tonnes per hectare, and land-use efficiency is up by about tenfold.

The Chinese expert team has been instrumental in advancing this cooperation. With their technical support, a dedicated seed laboratory has been set up for seed quality evaluation.

"When seed quality improves, output naturally increases," said agronomist Germano Manuel of the Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique, expecting to see a nationwide use of related technologies to lift the country's overall agricultural capacity.

Mozambique boasts vast land resources and holds immense potential for agricultural cooperation with China. It is willing to find more agro products beyond rice for cooperation, and seek more projects like the Wanbao farm, Chapo told Xinhua in an interview ahead of his state visit to China on April 16-22.

Mozambique will capitalize on China's zero-tariff treatment to push the export of its agro products in particular, he said.

Chapo said that he hopes to strengthen strategic cooperation with China in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, industrialization, and digitalization within the framework of South-South cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.