In his keynote speech, H.E. President Xi Jinping announced nine programs to be implemented jointly by China and Africa which covers a range of sectors including facilitating agriculture, and promoting trade, and so on. It provides sustainable driving force for the continuous development of China-Africa and China-Gambia Economic and Trade Cooperation.
China and The Gambia resumed diplomatic relations in March 2016, and the bilateral trade has been developing remarkably under the framework of FOCAC. In February 2017, China and The Gambia signed an exchange of letters for Duty-Free treatment for 97% of goods exported to China in the tariff list, i.e. the tariff rate for 8,030 tariff items from The Gambia to China is reduced to zero, which yields a solid basis for bilateral trading development. In June 2018, the China-Gambia Economic and Trade Joint Committee was held in Beijing which further facilitated the implementation of associated measures for trade between two countries. From 2017 to 2020, China’s imports from The Gambia amounted to 220.4 million USD on aggregate.
Agriculture is a pivotal industry in Gambia’s national economy as well as a pillar industry of Gambia’s Export. In a bid to further improve the modernization development of agricultural production in The Gambia, increase the added value of agricultural products, and help The Gambia generate foreign income through exports, Chinese Government and Gambia Government in April 2019 agreed to implement a three-year agricultural technical assistance project. For more than 2 years, Chinese agricultural experts have been actively carrying out work at Sapu, CRR such as breeding of improved varieties, demonstration planting, and agricultural technology promotion. They have cultivated a total of 16 varieties of rice and vegetables suitable for the Gambian climate, trained more than 1,000 local farmers, and donated nearly 30 tons rice and fine seeds to the local villagers and community. It’s very inspiring that the highest yield of hybrid rice planted by Chinese agricultural experts in the Sapu demonstration area is 9.35 tons/ha, which is twice the local conventional rice yield, contributing to the development of modern agriculture and the production of high-quality agricultural products in The Gambia.
The Gambia is a member of the FOCAC family, and China attaches great importance to the China-Gambia relations. China is willing to work closely with The Gambia to jointly implement the outcomes of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. In April 2022, the agricultural technical assistance project would have been accomplished. We are in close communication with the Gambian government to implement the second phase of the agricultural technical assistance project to provide support for Gambia’s agricultural development and the realisation of more high-quality agricultural exports. In terms of bilateral trade, the Chinese government will also offer The Gambia Duty-Free treatment to more products exported to China. To ensure the preferential policy and incentives of Duty-Free benefit to the Gambia people, the inspection and quarantine issues on some agricultural products from The Gambia to China are discussed and studied through professional channels, aimed at solving some technical standard problems in bilateral trade. We anticipate that through the close cooperation between our two countries, the bilateral trade relations would continue to achieve new development and open a new chapter in China-Gambia trade cooperation.
