This photo shows the exhibition area of African foods and agricultural products during the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo at the Changsha International Convention and Exhibition Center in Changsha, central China"s Hunan Province, June 29, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

CHANGSHA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China and African countries on Thursday proposed the establishment of a liaison mechanism for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) cooperation to strengthen the docking of inspection and quarantine standards and rules, which is key to facilitating African exports of agricultural and food products to China.

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More than 180 Chinese and foreign representatives attended the China-Africa Sanitary and Phytosanitary Cooperation Forum held on Thursday in Changsha, central China"s Hunan Province. A joint statement on the SPS cooperation was issued at the forum.

The China-Africa SPS cooperation information website was also launched at the event. Wang Lingjun, deputy director of China"s General Administration of Customs, signed agricultural and food product market access agreements with representatives from Madagascar and Zimbabwe at the meeting.

Wang said the administration will deepen inspection and quarantine cooperation with relevant government departments of African countries, and optimize market access assessment procedures for African agricultural and food products exported to China.

According to the administration"s data, the volume of agricultural imports and exports between China and Africa increased from 33.3 billion yuan (4.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012 to 58.6 billion yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 5.8 percent. In the first five months of this year, the trade volume jumped 20.4 percent year on year to reach 26.6 billion yuan.

African aquatic products, honey, sesame, peanuts, tobacco, wool, cotton, soybeans, coffee and fruits are stably exported to China.

Wang said the administration will continue to expand the types of African agricultural and food products exported to China to help promote the comprehensive and high-quality development of China-Africa trade, and to maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

The forum is among the major themed activities being held during the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which opened in Changsha on Thursday.

Among the 21 pilot free trade zones in China, the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone has been tasked with building a "demonstrative highland" for cooperation between China and Africa.

Hunan has prioritized efforts to standardize the inspection and quarantine of African agricultural products included in deals made at the expo, helping them gain market access to China.

Xu Xiaohua, director of the Evaluation Center of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Promotion Council, said that since the center was established in Changsha last year, it has done significant work to facilitate bilateral trade and cooperation.

Through the World Trade Organization, the center collects market supply and demand information from 54 African countries to provide matchmaking services for Chinese and African enterprises, and to help tackle obstacles that arise in Hunan"s free trade experiments.■