China says it will expand cotton production operations with four major African cotton-producing countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali), otherwise known as the C4.
The move signifies China’s commitment in promoting the capacity of the C4 countries in production, processing and logistics cooperation of the cotton industry, Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said, speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 9th Ministerial Conference (MC9) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Indonesia
China will also increase assistance in infrastructures construction, production materials, technology training, research and transportation, as well as encourage the establishment of joint-ventures between Chinese and African companies, all of which will be carried out by the end of 2014.
Gao said “China wishes to enhance the C4’s capacity in the area of cotton through processing and logistics, so as to make it a new model of south-south cooperation.”
The agreement is a follow-up of a cooperation program that started in 2011 at the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference, which allowed China to help in cotton production of the four cotton-growing countries that roughly account for 15 percent of the world’s cotton exports, a Xinhua News Agency report stated.
The supports were made through technical and financial aid.
Chad Minister of commerce and industry, Abderahim Bireme Hamid on behalf of the C4 group said the program has helped cotton growers at home.
The extended program will cover new areas such as cotton processing and sales, Gao said.
WTO Director- General Roberto Azevedo described the fact that developing countries’ now being able to provide technical assistance is a “very welcomed development.”
Such cooperation on cotton “constitutes a renewed push for negotiations,” he said.
Trade ministers present at the WTO’s are working to break trade impasses and finalise a package of global trade agreements that mainly cover trade facilitation, development and agriculture, in a bid to pave the way for future completion of the Doha Round.
