HAIKOU /China/, May 1. /TASS correspondent Nikolai Selishev/. Hainan Province has become an important platform for the development of China's agricultural sector and strengthening cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries in the field of agriculture. Xie Jianghui, vice-president of Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, told TASS.

"China has great advantages in terms of technology used in tropical agriculture. As you know, there are plant laboratories in Hainan, in the city of Sanya, which are now of national importance," he said. "Using the advantages of this site and the professional staff, we can successfully develop national crop production."

The expert noted that China is actively increasing cooperation with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "Many countries in the region, according to their own representatives, have already taken a closer look at the Chinese market. Through these deals, they can stimulate the growth of their agricultural sector and their own socio-economic development," he said.

Xie Jianghui added that China exports agricultural technology to developing countries, increasing their production capacity. "As trade relations with them become stronger, our friendly ties also become stronger," he said.

"Southeast Asia has rich biological resources, especially in seed production. China, too, has significant advantages that have emerged from our country's agricultural development," said the academy's vice president. "The PRC and ASEAN complement each other, well in the field of crop production; by introducing foreign crop resources in Hainan, we were able to create new types of agricultural products and then make them popular in the countries of the region."

International contacts

"Our academy has many opportunities for productive cooperation with a number of scientific organizations," the expert stressed. "We cooperate well in the field of agricultural mechanization, including dry farming and water-saving technologies."

When asked about strengthening contacts with Russia, the official noted that the Russian Federation has "a solid base to promote cooperation in agriculture, in particular in the cultivation of crops such as corn and wheat." The vice-president noted, China "first of all reveals its own scientific and technical advantages" in the course of international cooperation. For example, it supplies Chinese cassava of high quality to Southeast Asia. As a result, some Chinese varieties of agricultural products "have already taken root in the countries of the region, and in some of them have even become dominant."

"I hope that through China's agricultural technology exports, the Southeast Asian countries will be able to increase the development of production and production capacity, and then increase the volume of products supplied to China," Xie Jianghui summed up.

Hainan is important to China's agricultural development. The island has a number of modern laboratories with a wealth of breeding experience. Due to the favorable weather and climatic conditions allowing to grow plants all year round, the province plays a key role in Chinese seed production: every year the country's leading specialists come here to conduct experiments and exchange experience. Other countries, with which China's southernmost region maintains close research contacts, are also interested in these projects.

ASEAN is China's key foreign trade partner. In 2022, China's trade turnover with the ASEAN member countries was $975.34 billion (an 11.2% increase), noticeably exceeding the volume of exports and imports with the EU (847.32 billion, a 2.4% growth).