CHANGSHA: For Taiwan-based China Communications Media Group, a crucial step in their venture into Africa starts a little closer to home, in Hunan, a central province on the Chinese mainland.
Aspiring to expand its sales network of electric vehicles into Africa, the company will first set up a subsidiary inside the China-Africa Economic and Trade Headquarters Building in Hunan’s provincial capital Changsha, leveraging the many preferential policies and constellation of Chinese and African companies at the site.
“We’ve long wished to explore the African market, but our journey had been circuitous,” said the company’s chairman Liu Yao-yuan. “Now many like-minded companies gather here. I believe our exchanges and cooperation can lead to common prosperity.”
Opened on June 13, the building is the latest Sino-African landmark in Hunan, one of the most active Chinese provinces in economic ties with Africa and a trailblazer in China-Africa cooperation.
Spanning over 100,000 square meters, the building is designed to host Chinese and African firms engaging in bilateral trade and investment, and provide them with subsidies and a range of services from policy consultation to financial support.
Since its launch, more than 30 companies and associations in the fields of engineering, technology and research, telecommunication and others have settled in the building, whose trade with Africa is projected to reach 30 billion yuan (4.2 billion U.S. dollars) over the next three years.
The Mali Business Center, among the building’s first occupants, was set up with an aim of serving Mali companies in China and helping Chinese firms make investment in the West African country.
“We hope to become a home for the numerous Mali companies operating in China and help them explore the Chinese market,” said the center’s director Khalifa A. Sy Diop.
Guangdong-based Africa-China Association for Cooperation, Development and Investment (ACACDI) also plans to register a company at the Changsha headquarters, which promises rent exemption, subsidies and other support.
“Hunan is famous for leading China’s cooperation with Africa,” said Abdualla Elfrid, vice chairman of ACACDI. “And we believe the building will become a bridge for deepening exchanges, enhancing understanding, and expanding cooperation between China and Africa.” –Agencies
