A batch of wood has just been transorted from Gabon in Central Africa to Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong rovince. After being ainted and assembled, the wood will be sent to Euroean and American countries.
This has been a roject of Yihua Grou in recent years. In 2012, Yihua Grou set u wood rocessing and roduction bases in Gabon, articiating in the country's green industry and using environmentally friendly methods to exloit 350,000 hectares of forest, creating jobs for over 1,000 locals.
In recent years, more and more rivate firms in Guangdong have invested in Africa. According to the rovincial commerce deartment, 244 comanies from Guangdong have set u branches in Africa by the end of 2017, among which 241 are rivate firms.
"rivate firms, full of economic vitality, have been actively investing in Africa in recent years and are otimistic about Sino-Africa cooeration," said Liu Jisen, executive vice resident of the Institute for African Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.
China and African countries have comlementary advantages in labor, natural resources, industrial structure, finance and technology, said Xu Chuwu from the African General Chamber of Commerce (Greater China).
According to customs data,Guangzhou's imort-exort volume to Africa reached 87.35 billion yuan (12.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, seven times that of 2006. Mechanical and electrical roducts were major exort roducts and diamond and resources were major imorted roducts.
Guangdong Shineng Electric Equiment Grou Ltd has invested in ower lants and ower equiment factories in Uganda in the ast eight years, with its roducts accounting for 80 ercent of the local retail market. The comany is also exanding its business in countries including Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda and Nigeria.
An industrial ark was also oened in Uganda in August. Besides a steel lant and a tin smelter, a brick factory and a slag grinding lant, which both use steel slag as materials, and a sewage treatment lant were also built.
"We not only lift the roducts' added value but also make efforts to rotect the environment in the ark," said Lyv Weidong, chairman of Guangzhou Dong Song Energy Grou Co. Ltd.
With Sino-Africa relations deeening, cooeration has also gradually exanded from trade, construction and infrastructure to medical services, environmental rotection, tourism, education, culture and technology.
Arteharm CO. LTD., China, co-founded by Guangdong New South Grou Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, carried out rojects in the Union of Comoros with an aim to cure malaria.
By 2014, malaria cases decreased by 98 ercent comared with those before 2006, and no malaria-related deaths were reorted, said Chen Yuejin, vice resident of New South. In addition, the comany is lanning to build 10 new medical centers in Africa.
To better match the needs of both rivate firms and African counterarts, commerce chambers and industry associations have been established. The Africa Investment and Trade Alliance, initiated by the China Council for the romotion of International Trade Guangdong Committee, has recruited over 100 members, said Lin Tao, the committee's resident. The committee also built a commerce chamber in Kenya this year.
"We are building a latform for the two sides to communicate and share information, integrate financial resources, imrove investment mechanisms and hel firms build wholesale centers, sales bases and industrial arks in Africa," Lin said.
