On December 7, 2018 China-ASEAN Agricultural Industry Summit Forum, co-hosted by All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC) and ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), was grandly held in Beijing.

This forum is one of the important activities of the 15th China-ASEAN Expo. Surrounding the theme of Deepening Agricultural, Economic and Trade Cooperation and Enhancing China-ASEAN Exchange and Development, it carried out multiple activities such as reports, exchanges, promotions and exhibitions so as to explore opportunities for cooperation in the agricultural, economic and trade fields between China and ASEAN, further deepening regional development, and promoting the construction of the Belt and Road and the construction of China-ASEAN Community. The forum was jointly organized by Bureau for Agricultural Means of Production & Cotton and Jute of ACFSMC, Supply and Marketing Cooperatives of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China-ASEAN Chamber of Agricultural Commerce (CACAC), China Agricultural Means of Production Association (CAMPA) and China Cooperation Times, and sponsored by Jiangsu Huachang Chemical Co., Ltd..

Mr. Wang Wei, Deputy Director of the Council of ACFSMC and Secretary-general of ACC Chen Dehai attended the opening ceremony of the Forum and delivered important speeches.

Mr. TEA KONG, Minister Counselor (Commercial) of Royal Embassy of Cambodia, Mr. Adisorn Chanprapalert, Minister Counselor of Royal Thai Embassy and Mr. Ge Renshan, Director of Research Center of Jiangsu Huachang Chemical Co., Ltd., respectively addressed at the opening ceremony. Ms. Gao Fang, Director of Bureau for Agricultural Means of Production & Cotton and Jute of ACFSMC hosted the opening ceremony.

Nearly 150 people attended the Forum, including officials from embassies of ASEAN countries, relevant government leaders of China, ASEAN and India, etc, scholars in agricultural, economic and trade fields, representatives of associations, chambers of commerce, cooperatives and leading enterprises as well as media.

In his speech, Wang Wei pointed out that China and ASEAN are good neighbors enjoying geographical proximity and cultural affinity. We are also good partners pursuing common development through close collaboration. This year marks the ASEAN-China Year of Innovation and the 15th anniversary of the building of China-ASEAN strategic partnership. In the past 15 years, ASEAN and China cooperation has flourished in multiple fields. China has become the largest trading partner of ASEAN for nine consecutive years and ASEAN has become China's third largest trading partner for seven consecutive years. The agricultural cooperation between China and ASEAN has a solid foundation in a wide range of fields. The proportion of China's chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other agricultural products exported to ASEAN countries accounts for one-third of China's total exports. The two sides' production capacity and technical cooperation content are continuously enriched, and the consensus on green, high-quality and sustainable development of agriculture is expanding. ACFSMC and ACC co-hosting the "2018 China-ASEAN Agricultural Industry Summit Forum will certainly help to enhance multi-dimensional pragmatic cooperation in agriculture, economy and trade between China and ASEAN, and promote China and ASEAN bring into play regional synergies, accelerate the construction of the community and the construction of the Belt and Road to achieve win-win development. ACFSMC is willing to work with friends from all over the world to actively build platforms, expand exchanges, and strive to promote multi-faceted and deep-level cooperation between China and ASEAN. It will effectively meet the needs in agriculture, trade and economy of countries, vigorously improve the level of agricultural modernization, and makes full use of the power of civil organizations such as associations and chambers of commerce, thus giving full play to the role of bridges and ties to deepen cooperation and accelerate development. As the competent department of CACAC and the host of the Forum, ACFSMC will continue to attach importance to and support the development of CACAC and the holding of the Forum to contributing positively to economic and social development in China and ASEAN countries. 

Chen Dehai pointed out in his speech that this year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN strategic partnership. China-ASEAN relations have entered a mature stage of upgrading, facing new development opportunities. Last month, the 21st China-ASEAN Summit in Singapore adopted the "China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership 2030 Vision", which painted a grand blueprint for the long-term development of the relationship. Agriculture is an important area for economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN. China and ASEAN has strong complementarities and broad prospects for cooperation in agriculture. The two sides should strengthen cooperation: first, expand the openness of investment and service markets, further strengthen policy communication and support, and increase support for agricultural enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises through fiscal and financial policies; second, promote in-depth integration of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Belt and Road construction, further improve the investment environment, upgrade infrastructure, expand cooperation in key areas such as agricultural technology and talents, and enhance the level of cooperation between the two sides; Third, continuously innovate cooperation models to encourage cross-regional park construction and cross-border e-commerce development, create brands together, promote China-ASEAN agricultural whole industry chain cooperation; Fourth, build China-ASEAN agricultural cooperation information platform, open up information sharing channels between government, associations and enterprises, and promote cross-regional and inter-disciplinary information exchanges and collaborative innovation.

At the same time, the unveiling ceremony of the International Water-soluble Fertilizer Branch of CACAC was held. Gao Fang, Director of Bureau for Agricultural Means of Production & Cotton and Jute of ACFSMC, and Li Dianping, Director of Department of Science and Technology, Education, Associations and Societies, together unveiled the nameplate for the International Water-soluble Fertilizer Branch of CACAC. Li Dianping also expressed his wishes for the establishment of the International Water-soluble Branch of CACAC on behalf of ACFSMC. International Water-soluble Fertilizer Branch is the second professional branch established by CACAC after the establishment of the International Trade Committee of CACAC in 2017. It will work to improve the strength and development level of China's water-soluble fertilizer industry and expand international trade, investment and cooperation in new fertilizers.

After the unveiling ceremony, CACAC also released the “Top 10 International Water-Soluble Fertilizer Enterprises in China of 2017” and “Top 100 Fertilizer Import and Export Trade Enterprises in China of 2017” for the first time, and issued certificates for award-winning enterprises. This is a public welfare activity that CACAC actively responds to China's comprehensive expansion of opening up, accelerating of construction of a new pattern of foreign cooperation in agriculture, promotion of green agricultural development, showing the world China's excellent fertilizer companies and brands. It is also the concrete measure of CACAC to promote the construction of the Belt and Road, establish good images of China's fertilizer enterprises, expand international trade cooperation, and guide and motivate Chinese fertilizer companies to be better and stronger. Fan Huiqun, Vice-president and Secretary General of CACAC, presided over the unveiling ceremony, the releasing activities and the afternoon session of the Forum.

The one-day forum has a variety of content and highlights. Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and CACAC delivered keynote speeches on topics such as China-ASEAN agricultural cooperation, analysis and prospect of current foreign trade situation, and the growth and development, transformation of China's agricultural means of production industry. Government officials from ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand respectively introduced the agricultural, economic, trade and investment policies, business environment, market opportunities and development prospects of their own countries. Representatives from leading agricultural enterprises at home and abroad including CNAMPGC Holding Limited Corporation, Anhui Huilong Agricultural Group Co., Ltd., India National Fertilizer Limited, Hebei Monband Water Soluble Fertilizer Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Means of Production Corp Limited, Hubei Sanning Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., CHIA TAI Group (China Area) have exchanged views on the international fertilizer trade situation, the development of domestic industries and the exploration of international trade.

It is reported that since 2016, the Forum has been successfully held for three consecutive years and has become one of the important high-level forums under the framework of the China-ASEAN Expo. It has established a platform for exchanges between China and ASEAN as well as other countries in agriculture, economy, trade and information technology, which is highly recognized by domestic and foreign industries and achieves good social response.