On March 19, COFCO Corporation signed strategic cooperation framework agreement with Yunnan provincial government. Jointly witnessed by secretary of Yunnan provincial party committee & director of the standing committee of the provincial people’s congress Chen Hao, deputy secretary of Yunnan provincial party committee & provincial governor Ruan Chengfa, COFCO Corporation party secretary & chairman Zhao Shuanglian and industry senior general manager of COFCO Corporation & secretary of the party committee of COFCO Grains & Cereals Wang Zhen, deputy governor of Yunnan province Chen Shun and member of the Corporation’s leading Party members’ group & VP Ma Jianping signed strategic cooperation framework agreement on behalf of each side.
Under the agreement, both sides will adopt the strategy of “large industry + new entity + new platform” and “scientific research + cultivation + intensive processing + distribution”, dovetail Yunnan’s advantages in resources, geographical location and industry with COFCO Corporation’s advantages in sector, brand and market, and make concerted efforts to advance Yunnan agricultural industry’s structural adjustment and optimization so as to further implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, contribute to the arduous cause of shaking off poverty, and facilitate the rejuvenation of rural areas. COFCO Corporation will invest RMB 2 billion in Yunnan, where it will construct a comprehensive tea industrial park integrating scientific R&D, production, trade, tourism and culture as well as an auxiliary tea processing base. For the first phase, a modern factory covering an area of 200 mu is going to be built in Yunnan by 2019. Meanwhile, COFCO plans to promote the business model of “company + rural household” and modernize and renovate sugar cane field, sugar mill and traditional mode of production in Yunnan in the next two years in order to aid the poor through industrial development and push sugarcane farmers to shake off poverty and attain prosperity. COFCO Corporation also plans to expand cooperation with Yunnan in procurement, processing and intensive processing of natural spice in order to boost the consolidated development of Yunnan’s spice and essence industry and expand international and domestic consumer markets. Both sides will also cooperate in the construction of import logistics base and real estate projects.
Before the signing ceremony, Chen Hao and Zhao Shuanglian exchanged opinions regarding Yunnan’s development achievement of agricultural economy and its prospect, the arduous task of shaking off poverty, the implementation of rural rejuvenation, and COFCO’s growth and presence along the “Belt and Road”.
Chen Hao expressed welcome to COFCO Corporation’s development initiatives in Yunnan. He noted that COFCO Corporation’s business activities are in line with the direction of Yunnan’s development. Despite its rich resources of agro-products, Yunnan only has small-scale enterprises scattered across the province and below the industrial standard. He hoped that COFCO Corporation would help push ahead industrial development, boost modernization drive of agriculture and rural areas, and enable local farmers to shake off poverty through industrial development. Provincial party committee and provincial government will lend full support to COFCO Corporation’s development in Yunnan. Meanwhile, he also hoped to learn from COFCO Corporation advanced experiences associated with SOE reform, which can be applied to Yunnan-based SOEs in order to accelerate their pace of reform.
Zhao Shuanglian expressed his gratitude to Yunnan provincial party committee and provincial government for their generous support. He noted that COFCO Corporation would leverage its advantages in the sector and R&D capabilities to push for standardized development of Yunnan’s tea industry. Meanwhile, COFCO Corporation will speed up its outreach in Yunnan’s cane sugar industry and grain logistics system. By making use of development opportunities offered by the “Belt and Road” initiative, COFCO will rebuild the ancient tea shipping route from Yunnan and Sichuan to Tibet in order to create branding and exemplary effects. It will also expand the construction of regional agricultural bases in Southeast Asia in order to carry out the requests made by the Prime Minister and solve the grain supply issues in Southwest China.
At the signing ceremony, COFCO Corporation’s subsidiary China Tea and Dali-based Xiaguan Tuo Tea Company reached equity cooperation agreement signed by China Tea party secretary & chairman Yin Jianhao and Dali-based Xiaguan Tuo Tea Group Limited’s chairman Chen Guofeng. Through equity cooperation with Dali-based Xiaguan Tuo Tea Company, China Tea will build raw material procurement and processing base in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture and consolidate tea plantations of approximately 500,000 mu in Dali, Menghai, Lincang, and Pu’er in order to facilitate the upgrade of local tea industry and help tea farmers increase revenue and attain prosperity.
Yunnan deputy provincial governor Chen Shun, director of Farmers’ Office of the CPC Provincial Committee & head of Provincial Agricultural Department Wang Minzheng, chief of Yunnan’s Beijing-stationed office Ma Hongmei, head of Dali Prefecture Yang Jian, COFCO Sugar chairman & party secretary Xia Linghe, Joy City Property general manager Cao Ronggen, chief of Corporation general office Liu Yun, and deputy director of Capital Operation Department Wu Fei attended the meeting as well as the signing ceremony.
