How does "Belt and Road Initiative" take agriculture to "go out"?

"Belt and Road Initiative" can be described as the "east wind" of China's agriculture "going out", but in order to turn the "east wind" into a good opportunity, we still need to seize the opportunity in many aspects. Based on the current basis of agricultural cooperation, we should make full use of and tap the potential of cooperation, strengthen overseas investment in "big agriculture", and make breakthroughs in key areas and directions.

A few days ago, the State Council authorized the release of "Vision and Action for promoting the Joint Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road" (hereinafter referred to as "Vision and Action"), and identified the members of the leading group of "Belt and Road Initiative". It has become a hot topic in society recently.

China has a long history of agricultural exchanges with foreign countries, and the ancient Silk Road played an important role in enriching the lives of the people along the route and promoting the exchange of agricultural technology and trade in agricultural products. Through the Silk Road, China introduced flax, pomegranate, grape, alfalfa and other crop varieties from the western regions, and brought agricultural technologies and products such as iron smelting, well digging, silk and tea to Central Asia, promoting the spread and exchange of agricultural technology among countries. For thousands of years, China's agriculture has shone brilliantly in the process of "going out" and "bringing in".

Compared with the "rich and handsome" industries such as energy, railways and minerals, the current "going out" of China's agriculture faces multiple challenges. "Vision and Action" not only puts forward the advantage areas and investment priorities of "going out" in agriculture, but also comprehensively considers the concerns and bottlenecks faced by "going out", so as to give a boost to agricultural enterprises with the dream of "going out" for many years. The connectivity of facilities, smooth trade and financing can gradually solve the problems faced by agriculture "going out", such as backward infrastructure, inconvenient trade, and difficulties in financing. It can be said that agriculture "going out" ushered in an excellent opportunity.

Food security is an issue of common concern to China and countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" route, and food cooperation can be said to be one of the best combination points of "community of interests" and "community with a shared future". China ranks first in grain production and import in the world. China has the technology and experience to help other countries solve their food security problems, as well as the need to solve their own food problems. Some countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" route, such as Kazakhstan and Russia, are important grain exporters and important regions for realizing the diversification of China's grain imports. On the other hand, China has a vast territory and a long history of agricultural civilization, and has accumulated advanced technologies for planting and breeding under various climatic conditions. countries along the route have a strong demand for China's agricultural machinery, mariculture, facility agriculture and other products and technologies.

At present, China has signed bilateral agricultural cooperation agreements with most countries, but international agricultural cooperation is also closely related to many departments, so it is difficult to coordinate, and some of the established agricultural cooperation mechanisms have not been fully utilized. Cooperation assistance funds such as the special fund for foreign economic and technological cooperation, the US $50 million trust fund donated by China to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and the US $50 million agricultural technology extension and personnel training fund of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization share and exchange with developing countries with knowledge, experience, policies, technology and professional resources. More than 1000 agricultural experts and technicians sent by "South-South Cooperation" to 24 countries, including Asia, Africa and Latin America, can become reserve talents and think-tank members for agriculture to "go global."

Since the "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative was put forward, it has received a positive response from most countries along the route, and has signed memorandums of cooperation with some countries, such as Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Qatar, on jointly building "Belt and Road Initiative". During their overseas visits, state leaders met with relevant heads of state and government many times, explained in depth the profound connotation and positive significance of "Belt and Road Initiative," and reached a broad consensus. "Policy communication" will lead the construction of multi-level intergovernmental policy exchange mechanism and linkage mechanism, and create a good investment atmosphere and public opinion environment for agriculture "going out".

Not only will the atmosphere of investment and public opinion environment improve, but "facilities Unicom" will also provide a key guarantee for agriculture to "go global." Most of the countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" route belong to developing countries, and the backwardness of roads, railways, ports and irrigation and water conservancy facilities has become a bottleneck factor restricting China's agriculture "going out." Infrastructure connectivity is a priority area of "Belt and Road Initiative" construction, which will provide an excellent investment basis for large-scale agricultural investment projects, and gradually form a transportation network connecting various regions of Asia and between Asia, Africa and Europe. Reduce logistics costs for agricultural trade, but also provide basic conditions for enterprises to achieve global marketing and build transnational agricultural enterprises.

More importantly, "financing" provides an important support for agriculture to "go out". "three banks and one gold": four platforms, namely, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the BRICS Development Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Development Bank, and the Silk Road Fund, as well as the establishment of local governments and other funds, the integration of banks and other social capital will provide a continuous stream of funds for the "Belt and Road Initiative" long-term initiative. These funds can be described as "rain after a long drought" for agricultural "going out" enterprises.

With people, money, land, and infrastructure, "Belt and Road Initiative" can be described as the "east wind" of China's agriculture "going out", but in order to turn the "east wind" into a good opportunity, we still need to seize the opportunity in many aspects.

Agricultural "going out" should be based on the current basis of agricultural cooperation and make full use of and tap the potential of cooperation. Instead of starting a new stove, Belt and Road Initiative encouraged enterprises to cooperate deeply in the fields of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, agricultural machinery, and the production and processing of agricultural products by filling the "bottle" of "Belt and Road Initiative" into the "bottle" of the existing mechanism platform.

Under the background of "Belt and Road Initiative", the "going out" of agriculture should be planned first, the development goals and priorities should be clearly defined, and the overseas investment of "big agriculture" should be strengthened. It is necessary to fully consider the advantages of local resources and make a sound plan according to the needs of the local market, the international market and the domestic market. In addition, agricultural "going out" is not just about overseas "farming". It is necessary to bring the investment of agricultural upstream and downstream industrial chains into the overall layout of agricultural "going global". Enterprises are encouraged to invest in capital-and technology-intensive industries such as processing, logistics, warehousing, wharves, seeds, research and development, and other key areas with high science and technology content, strengthen cooperation in key industries such as grain and offshore fishing, and raise the level of investment. Cultivate a number of large multinational enterprises with certain international competitiveness.

The pace of China's agriculture "going out" used to be like a tractor carrying a heavy load on a field path. The "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative widened the road and replenished energy for agriculture. I hope that in the future, the train of agriculture "going out" will be able to carry the common aspirations of all countries along the route and fly fast.