FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of the People’s Republic of China reaffirmed their unwavering commitment for a sustainable agrifood system transformation at the 11th Annual Consultation Meeting of the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme (ACM) held in Beijing, China on 30 October 2023.

In his opening address, Mr. Anping Ye, Director of the FAO South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division, acknowledged the deepening collaboration between FAO and China over the years. He emphasized the need to further harness China's technical expertise and know-how through the Programme to support the realization of FAO's Strategic Framework and priority initiatives. He expressed profound appreciation to China for the steadfast commitment and support to the Programme, underscoring that strengthened FAO-China collaboration would contribute significantly to achieving FAO's mission of advancing better production, better nutrition, better environment, and a better life.

Mr. Ni Hongxing, Counsel of the Department of International Cooperation of MARA, highly appreciated the progress in the implementation of the FAO-China SSC Programme and the achievements made during 2022-23. He suggested further improvement with regards to the Programme’s implementation and projects design, considering FAO’s key initiatives and China’s agricultural priorities and strengths. He also encouraged both parties to continue frequent and ad-hoc bilateral exchanges, enhance project monitoring and evaluation, and develop diverse and impactful projects and activities to tackle global, regional, and national challenges.  

The 11th ACM of the FAO-China SSC Programme reviewed the progress and key achievements made by the Programme over the last year. FAO and China acknowledged the significant milestones reached by the Programme during 2022-23, including the improved alignment of the Programme with FAO’s Strategic Framework and strategic priority initiatives, expediting the deployment of Chinese experts to host countries, forging innovative partnerships to mobilize resources, and enhancing the coordination and management of the Programme.

The ACM also discussed and approved the 2023-24 work plan for the FAO-China SSC Programme, which will further improve the coordination, management, and partnerships of the Programme, enhance the implementation of ongoing projects, and expedite the formulation of the new projects. Furthermore, the plan outlines the organization of a number of high-level events and capacity-building initiatives that will benefit many developing countries.

During the meeting, FAO and China deliberated on some challenges and strategies to enhance the implementation of the FAO-China SSC Programme. These include expanding the Programme’s partnerships through innovative approaches to pool more technical and financial resources, establishing robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, streamlining procedures or workflow for project implementation and capacity-building activities, improving knowledge management, and further enhancing the functionality of the FAO Reference Centres in China, which serve as important conduits for sharing China's extensive knowledge and experience with other developing countries.