Post date: Aug 24, 2011 2:13:2 PM
China Africa Famine -- Chinese MOC refuting any claim to blame China for Africa famine
CCTV BEIJING - A Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman on Wednesday refuted the claim that China's land purchases in the Horn of Africa had contributed to the famine ravaging the region.
French media reported recently that Germany's Africa policy coordinator Guenter Nooke claimed that Chinese investments were focused on farming for export which led to "major social conflicts in Africa when small farmers have their land and thus their livelihoods taken away."
Shen said that China's investments in agricultural projects in Africa were aimed at raising agricultural production capacity there. All the agricultural products generated by the project are mostly sold to the African people in the region so as to meet their agricultural needs.
"No single grain of rice produced in Africa was shipped to China, and the saying that China's land purchases in the Horn of Africa had contributed to the famine ravaging the region is groundless," said Shen Danyang.
The Chinese government has pledged 443 million yuan worth of urgently needed foodstuffs and aid in cash for drought-hit northeastern African nations, he added.
"The first group of the goods will be sent out next week and arrive in Africa by the end of September. What we have offered are wheat, rice, flour and sugar that recipient countries are in need of. Besides, we plan to offer funds to four African countries through the United Nations Development Programme," the spokesman said.
Shen also stated that China's export policy on rare earths have not violated the rules of the WTO. China will appeal to the commission institution for the result addressed by WTO on the penal report of China's export restrictions on raw materials.
"According to the information gathered by MOC, there are no data or typical cases supporting the saying that 'many Chinese export corporations are facing bankruptcy'," said Shen.
The spokesman admitted that due to the instability and uncertainty of international economic situation as well as rising cost of labor forces and raw materials, some corporations in the Pearl River Delta region are encountering business difficulties.
But he also added that the Dongguan-mode of operation is experiencing a thorough structural transformation, and the MOC is paying close attention to the reforming and upgrading of Dongguan's processing trade.
According to a recent survey on export corporations in Dongguan in south China's Guangdong Province, 300 of them can now provide both designing and production services. Moreover, enterprises originally engaged in processing with customers' materials have also beefed up their efforts in business-mode transformation.
The year 2010 saw 1,250 unincorporated enterprises transformed into corporate ones, 1.4 times the total number achieved in previous years.
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