On 21-23 December 2020, a delegation from the SCO Secretariat took part in the Forum of Beautiful Villages along the Belt and Road at the invitation of the People's Government of Gansu Province.
The forum was organised by the People's Government of Gansu Province, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the World Tourism Alliance and the Belt and Road Alliance of Beautiful Rural Districts of France.
Deputy Secretary of the Province Party Committee Sun Wei delivered a speech at the forum's opening on 21 December 2020 in Longnan of Kang County titled "Building a beautiful rural area using the Belt and Road Initiative." He noted that Gansu Province and Longnan in particular were active participants in the large-scale initiative and had achieved considerable success in building beautiful villages and fighting poverty by integrating modern technologies, new forms of agriculture, green environment and the region's rich culture.
In his video address, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov stressed that President of China Xi Jinping's Belt and Road global initiative was a way to unite countries' efforts and develop new opportunities to ensure stable and sustainable development.
The Secretary-General noted that improving people's welfare and standards of living was a priority for the SCO. The member countries' leaders support creating favourable conditions to promote trade and economic cooperation, including in agriculture and food security.
China has achieved great success in fighting poverty and has set ambitious goals to ensure food security.
Last September, at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, President of China Xi Jinping said:
Last September, at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, President of China Xi Jinping said:
We have every confidence that we will achieve our goals within the set timeframe, that is, to build a moderately prosperous society, lift rural residents out of poverty where they are living below the poverty line, and meet the poverty eradication target set out in the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule.
The SCO Secretary-General believes Longnan's experience in overcoming poverty due to the development of innovative agriculture is an example to follow and can prove very useful for the SCO member countries.
Speaking about promoting friendly relations between the SCO and Gansu Province, Mr Norov noted that the joint celebration of the International Day of Nowruz, a celebration of spring in Beijing in 2017, had been a colourful and unforgettable event in the capital's cultural life.
The Secretary-General also noted the results of the SCO Heads of State Summit held on 10 November 2020 and the prospective goals set for the SCO in agriculture.
"We will have to implement joint high-tech projects to produce and process agricultural products and develop e-commerce, information technologies and many other aspects of a modern economy in agriculture.
"Research into the prospects for accelerating the transition to green agriculture, the rational use of water resources, overcoming problems with the rural population's access to high-quality infrastructure as well as expanding the possibilities of the digital economy are becoming quite relevant today.
"The digitalisation of agriculture has a lot of potential, and combined with proper funding, will help promote the stable development of agricultural economy, expand rural infrastructure, and in the future will help farmers gain more independence, improve trade in their products and the quality of services," Vladimir Norov noted in his video remarks.
Next, the SCO Secretary-General stressed the importance of close cooperation with youth and the prospects for involving their potential in various projects in agriculture, teaching and developing an interest in establishing youth business incubators and startups, which will help deepen trade and economic cooperation within the SCO.
In conclusion, the SCO Secretary-General mentioned the difficulties faced by the countries in countering the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impacts, including in agriculture.
"We will have to step up trade and economic relations and revive economic ties by creating innovative agriculture techniques and modern integrated rural districts in order to improve the welfare of rural residents and the level of their social life. In this context, we expect this forum to give a boost to further promoting regional cooperation," the SCO Secretary-General concluded.
The forum continued with three panel sessions on 22 December 2020.
Speaking at the session on "Building a beautiful rural area via developing rural values," SCO Deputy Secretary-General Yerik Ashimov highlighted the SCO member countries' significant natural and agricultural potential as well as the importance of further developing high-tech innovative agriculture in this context.
Speaking at the session on "Building a beautiful rural area via developing rural values," SCO Deputy Secretary-General Yerik Ashimov highlighted the SCO member countries' significant natural and agricultural potential as well as the importance of further developing high-tech innovative agriculture in this context.
It was stressed that the organisation had created a legal basis for cooperation in this area and outlined various aspects of interaction, including the development of crop farming, cattle breeding, selection and seed production, land reclamation and irrigation, smart agriculture, expansion of agricultural exports and providing access to modern digital and information technology.
"In this context, the countries will also have to work to expand the export and import of their products to each other's markets. Today, ecofriendly agricultural products of high quality prevail in the structure of the SCO member countries' exports to the Chinese market. The SCO member countries are ready to establish joint ventures with Chinese companies to manufacture products that meet PRC standards, as well as interact to create a network of commodity and certification inspections in the SCO member countries and train specialists in the field of standardisation," Mr Ashimov concluded.
The forum participants visited demonstration villages in Kang County and reviewed the province's achievements in forming beautiful rural landscape and e-platforms for the mutual trade in agricultural products.