4 August, 2014 --- The 6th China-Mozambique-IFAD South-South Cooperation Workshop, co-hosted by China’s Ministry of Finance and IFAD, organized by IPRCC, and co-organized by the Ministry of Planning and Development of Mozambique, had its opening in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Wang Baoan, IFAD Associate Vice President John McIntire and Mozambique’s Minister of Planning and Development Aiuba Cuereneia addressed the opening ceremony.

The workshop is aimed at promoting cooperation between China and other developing countries in agriculture and rural poverty reduction through the platform of IFAD. This year’s workshop has invited more than 70 people, including delegates from 13 African countries (Mozambique, Burundi, Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia), IFAD and other international institutions.

The 5-day workshop consists of two parts: thematic discussion and field trip. Highlighting “sharing experience and deepening cooperation”, the thematic discussion will focus on topics such as “the evolution and performance of China’s agriculture policy”, “agricultural management system reform and agricultural modernization”, and “the role of agricultural infrastructure construction and agricultural technology popularization in promoting agricultural modernization” to comprehensively explore all kinds ways and innovative modes of agricultural development and poverty reduction. The participating delegates will also go on a field trip to China - Mozambique Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center and the farm of China Wanbao Grains & Oils Co., Ltd.

Since 2009, the Ministry of Finance and IFAD have successfully hosted five sessions in China, which obtained favorable results and won positive comments from various sides. This cooperation mechanism has become an important platform for China and other developing countries to exchange and discuss their experience in agricultural development and poverty reduction as well as to promote South-South knowledge cooperation. On the basis of successful experience and at the invitation of Mozambique, this year’s workshop is the first of its kind held in Africa, which will further push forward practical cooperation in the field of agriculture and poverty reduction, and inject greater vigor into the upgraded version of China-Africa cooperation.