Minister Han Changfu attended the 55th International Fair of Agriculture and Food (AGRA) in Gornja Radgona, Slovenia, on 26 August 2017. Agriculture ministers, representatives of business communities and experts from the 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) participated in the event.
Minister Han Changfu, Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Dejan ?idan delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony. Minister Han noted that CEEC, located along the ancient Silk Road, share a long history of agricultural cooperation with China. In recent years, the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping has been widely welcomed and supported, bringing new historic opportunities for agricultural cooperation between China and CEEC. He underlined that while advocating trade facilitation and opposing protectionism, China has registered an annual agricultural import of over USD 130 billion. Although a leading agricultural producer, China welcomes imports of premium and featured agricultural products from CEEC and other countries to enrich options for Chinese consumers.
After the opening ceremony, Minister Han and Mr. ?idan planted a tree, hand-picked by ?idan, as a symbol of China-Slovenia friendship. With the fair kicked off, Mr. Pahor and Mr. ?idan visited the China pavilion and stopped at each booth to listen to the introduction of Chinese agricultural products. They commended the extraordinary taste and quality after trying the Chinese food. In meeting with Minister Han, Mr. Pahor spoke highly of China-Slovenia friendship, conveyed his greetings to President Xi Jinping, and appreciated China's support to AGRA.
Minister Han visited pavilions of Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, as invited by agriculture ministers of each country who introduced and promoted their high-quality agricultural products during the tour.
China is the guest of honor of the 55th AGRA. Top 15 flagship Chinese agricultural enterprises participated in the fair, bringing a rich assortment of Chinese-featured agricultural products, such as tea, Chinese wolfberries, chestnuts, Chinese dates and coarse grains. The diversified and distinctive Chinese products have attracted a large crowd of visitors and were well received by local people.