Ukraine, China hold online forum to boost agricultural trade

Industry leaders and business representatives from China and Ukraine gathered at an online forum Tuesday to discuss ways to further develop win-win cooperation in agricultural trade.

The forum, titled “Ukraine-China: The Future of Trade, Pulses, Grains, Oilseeds,’’ was co-organised by the Community of Pulse Producers and Customers of Ukraine (SPPBU) and China Chamber of Commerce of Import/Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products (CFNA).

Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong while attending the forum said that in recent years, bilateral trade had been growing and making China Ukraine’s largest trade partner.

Agro-products were playing an important role in bilateral trade, Fan said, adding that exports of Ukrainian agro-products to China reached 3.5 billion U.S. dollars N 2020, up by 84 per cent year-on-year, and amounted to about 45 per cent of Ukraine’s total exports to China.

Fan said he believed agricultural trade between China and Ukraine would be even more vigorous in the near future.

The two countries can also strengthen cooperation in such fields as growing crops and processing agro-products, he added.

Meanwhile, Taras Kachka, deputy minister for Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture of Ukraine, stressed the importance of intergovernmental cooperation in the agricultural sector.

Agricultural trade between the two countries has great potential, and Ukraine is interested in developing cooperation with China and bringing bilateral trade to a new level, Kachka said.

President of SPPBU Antonina Sklyarenko, CFNA President Cao Derong, and business representatives from both countries also attended the forum.