分类： business

A landmark cross-border energy infrastructure partnership between China and Laos has reached a major milestone, with the 500-kilovolt China-Laos power interconnection project officially entering commercial operation on Monday, April 21, 2026. Developed to deepen bilateral energy cooperation, this new facility stands as the largest and highest-voltage cross-border power grid project ever constructed between the two neighboring nations.

According to data released by China Southern Power Grid Lancang-Mekong International, the project delivers a transformative upgrade to bilateral energy exchange capacity. Prior to the launch of this new infrastructure, the maximum power transmission capacity between China and Laos stood at just 50,000 kilowatts. The newly commissioned project pushes this capacity to 1.5 million kilowatts — a 30-fold increase over the previous interconnection line.

Beyond expanding capacity, the project is designed to facilitate large-scale cross-border exchange of clean energy. Project operators project that the interconnection will support the annual transmission of approximately 3 billion kilowatt-hours of low-carbon electricity between the two countries, helping to balance energy supply and demand while supporting decarbonization goals on both sides of the border.

The project’s completion comes amid growing regional cooperation on energy infrastructure across the Lancang-Mekong region, where cross-border interconnection projects are increasingly seen as a tool to improve energy security, expand access to affordable clean power, and strengthen economic ties between participating nations.

Against a backdrop of mounting global geoeconomic instability – driven by the second Donald Trump U.S. presidency and escalating hostilities in the Middle East – China’s evolving strategic approach to economic cooperation with Africa has grown increasingly critical for both sides. This strategic shift, which first began taking shape in 2019, is centered on a new investment-focused framework anchored in central China’s Hunan Province, developed to address longstanding flaws in earlier cooperation models and adapt to shifting domestic and global demands.

The old Angola Model, which paired Chinese infrastructure construction in African nations for access to natural resource extraction, ran into significant sustainability challenges. Many African economies, inherently vulnerable to external market shocks, struggled to keep pace with growing debt repayment obligations under this framework. Simultaneously, shifting domestic economic priorities in China and rising trade barriers on traditional global trade routes pushed Beijing to pursue a new path. The country selected Hunan as the core implementation hub for this next era of China-Africa trade and development, giving rise to what analysts now call the Hunan Model. Its strategic importance grew further following the formal approval of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Pilot Zone in early 2024, building on the momentum of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Exhibition launched that same year.

At its core, the Hunan Model aims to deepen balanced trade and industrial integration between China and African nations. It is designed to directly address three of the most persistent barriers to African development: chronic shortages of capital, skilled labor, and reliable infrastructure, while also providing China with a stable, expanding supply of critical natural resources.

### The Structural Framework of the Hunan Model
The model is built around two flagship national policy initiatives: the China-Africa Economic and Trade Exhibition, and the integrated logistics, trade, and investment system of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Pilot Zone, which is designed to align Chinese and African supply chains for mutually beneficial development.

Hunan’s capital city Changsha hosts China’s third-largest wholesale market, the Gaoqiao Grand Market, which serves as the primary distribution hub for non-commodity imports from Africa. The market operates expedited “green lanes” that speed African exports to Chinese consumers, and hosts a permanent trade facilitation hall where African nations can directly showcase their goods and access targeted trade support services.

To connect landlocked Hunan to global markets with a focus on African trade, the model leverages three geographically focused functional hubs:
1. The Changsha Free Trade Airport Zone, a national airfreight hub that added the direct Changsha-Addis Ababa cargo route in 2022 to expand direct connectivity between China and East Africa.
2. Yueyang Chenglingji Port, which links Hunan’s heavy industrial sectors – including timber processing and machinery manufacturing – to global shipping routes via the Yangtze River.
3. The Changsha Jinxia Economic Zone, which supports combined sea-rail trade corridors from Hunan to southern China’s Guangdong province, before goods continue onward to Africa.

Five specialized industry clusters drive targeted trade, investment, and industrial development across both regions, focusing on sectors where Hunan already holds strong competitive advantages that align with African industrialization goals. Key sectors include construction machinery, mining equipment, and precious metals processing. Beyond the permanent exhibition space in Changsha, the China-Africa Economic and Trade Exhibition now hosts regular expos in both China and African nations, with events already launched in key African economies including Kenya and Nigeria in recent years.

### Global Shocks Accelerate the Model’s Expansion
Analyst Lauren Johnston, an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre who has studied China-Africa trade relations for years, argues that recent geopolitical shocks – particularly the ongoing Middle East tensions and their cascading global economic disruptions – are speeding two key Chinese policy shifts that play directly to the Hunan Model’s strengths: China’s accelerated transition to renewable energy and economy-wide electrification, and its push to open new emerging markets for Chinese goods. Both shifts carry profound implications for Africa.

Already, the second Trump presidency and escalating U.S.-China trade tensions have boosted the Hunan Model’s importance. As Western markets have grown increasingly restrictive for Chinese exports, China has rapidly pivoted toward deeper economic engagement with the Global South, and Africa has been a major beneficiary. In 2025, while China’s total global foreign trade grew by just 3.8%, bilateral China-Africa trade surged by 17.7%.

Disruptions to global energy supply chains from Middle East hostilities are only intensifying China’s push for renewables and electrification. That has driven skyrocketing global demand for electric vehicle (EV) technology – and Hunan is home to one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, Chinese giant BYD. Hunan’s central role in China’s domestic renewables industry, from electric mobility to critical minerals processing and infrastructure construction, positions the Hunan Model to lead a new renewable-powered phase of China-Africa cooperation.

This shift is already visible in trade data: In 2025, the fastest growing segment of Changsha’s exports to Africa was the so-called “new three items” – lithium batteries, electric vehicles, and photovoltaic products. Year-on-year, Hunan’s exports of these goods to Africa jumped 160.4%, 840.4%, and 62.1% respectively, earning them the status of a new calling card for Hunan’s trade with the continent. Beyond EV maker BYD, Hunan is also headquarters for rail giant CRRC, which is leading a surge in exports of green electric railway infrastructure to African nations. Following recent supply disruptions linked to Middle East tensions, China also announced plans to establish a new national rare minerals research and innovation hub in Changsha, further strengthening Hunan’s position in critical global supply chains.

### Addressing Remaining Risks for Mutually Beneficial Growth
While the Hunan Model represents a clear improvement over older extraction-focused frameworks, and prioritizes reducing non-tariff barriers to balanced trade, notable risks remain. The divergent growth rates of bilateral trade – China’s exports to Africa rose 17.7% in 2025, while African exports to China grew by just 5.4% – highlights a growing trade imbalance that needs to be addressed to ensure long-term sustainability.

For long-term inclusive growth, African nations and sub-regions need to build out their own domestic industrial supply chains, following the path China took when it attracted foreign investment to build its own industrial base. While the Hunan Model already supports a research alliance of Chinese scholars and industry experts to guide its development, African nations need to develop equivalent local research and governance capacity to shape cooperation on their own terms.

In an era of repeated global economic shocks that have upended traditional trade and growth frameworks, the Hunan Model is no longer just an experimental policy idea. It is already driving tangible economic transformation across China and Africa, and carries significant potential for shared, sustained growth for both regions in the decades ahead.

Driven by shifting generational attitudes that position pets as beloved family members rather than simple companions, China’s pet sector is undergoing rapid expansion, with cities in northern Shanxi province emerging as a key example of the industry’s evolution beyond basic retail into a diversified, professionalized ecosystem.

Across Taiyuan, the provincial capital of Shanxi, this growing demand for high-quality pet care has spawned a wave of new specialized services, ranging from standardized in-home pet sitting and high-speed rail pet transport to advanced veterinary care for aging animals. One of the professionals at the heart of this booming market is Chen Hong, a 40-year-old full-time in-home pet sitter who turned her years of personal pet ownership experience into a full-time career last winter.

During a recent service call, Chen followed strict industry hygiene protocols: putting on disposable shoe covers and gloves, and spraying disinfectant throughout the entryway before entering the client’s home, where two friendly cats immediately greeted her with affectionate attention. As she played gently with the animals, Chen explained the core driver of rising demand for her work. “More and more people consider their pets as family members and emotional anchors, ” she said. “As a result, pet owners are increasingly demanding higher quality services that put their pets’ comfort first.”

Chen’s work focuses on supporting pet owners who travel for work or leisure, providing in-home services that include feeding, litter box cleaning, and dedicated playtime. On an average day, she travels between Taiyuan’s residential communities to complete five to six appointments, with peak demand during national holiday seasons pushing her daily schedule to more than a dozen bookings.

Chen’s career transition mirrors a much larger national trend, as skyrocketing pet ownership across China creates thousands of new professional roles and opens up major new economic opportunities. Data from the 2026 China Pet Industry White Paper underscores the scale of this growth: urban China is now home to nearly 126 million pet dogs and cats, pushing the national pet industry market size to 312.6 billion yuan, equivalent to roughly $45.5 billion. Industry forecasts project that total consumer spending on pet-related products and services will climb to 405 billion yuan by 2028.

Unlike traditional pet boarding facilities that require owners to leave their animals at an off-site location, in-home pet sitting aligns far better with pets’ natural routines and reduces the stress animals often experience when separated from their owners in unfamiliar environments. That benefit has made the service increasingly popular among younger pet owners like Zhang Zining, a 28-year-old Taiyuan resident who owns an Abyssinian cat. Zhang says she always books in-home sitting services whenever she plans to travel for more than two days, citing the peace of mind it gives her knowing her pet is comfortable in its own home.

Local authorities in Shanxi have also moved to standardize this fast-growing sector, introducing formal guidelines to ensure service quality and consumer protection, laying the groundwork for the pet economy’s sustained long-term growth across the region.

Against a backdrop of rising global food security uncertainties fueled by geopolitical turbulence, a landmark long-term agricultural outlook report released Monday projects that China will record a modest but steady uptick in domestic grain output in 2026, while seeing the first decline in imports of major agricultural commodities – most notably soybeans – in recent years.

The *China Agricultural Outlook (2026-2035)*, compiled by the agricultural market analysis and early-warning team under China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, forecasts total national grain production will hit 716 million metric tons this year, a 0.2% year-on-year increase. Oilseed output is also set for stronger growth, projected to rise 2.6% to 42.04 million tons. The expansion is driven by consistent improvements in crop productivity, with average national grain yields expected to cross the 6,000 kilograms per hectare threshold in 2026.

“Large-scale improvements in crop productivity will continue to support a stable grain supply,” noted Xu Shiwei, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ key laboratory of agricultural monitoring and early warning technology. Alongside rising domestic output, the report forecasts a pullback in imports of several major agricultural goods, paired with ongoing growth in exports of China’s competitive agricultural products. Xu confirmed that soybean imports will fall 6.1% year-on-year in 2026, marking the first drop for that metric in recent years. Pork imports are projected to decline 8.2%, while dairy imports will see a 4.1% decrease, per the report.

At the same time, exports of high-demand Chinese agricultural products are on track to expand: vegetable exports are forecast to grow 6.4% in 2026, and fruit exports are set to rise 5%. Even with the projected decline in some import volumes, the report stresses that global agricultural markets will remain a critical supplement to China’s domestic supply, noting that imports of goods including poultry are still expected to increase this year.

The report comes as global agricultural markets face mounting headwinds from global geopolitical instability. Li Ganqiong, head of the agricultural monitoring and early-warning research center at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, pointed out that rising geopolitical risks – including ongoing conflict in the Middle East – have driven up global oil prices, fertilizer costs and shipping expenses, creating greater uncertainty for global agricultural production and trade. “These factors could heighten risks to global food security,” Li said, adding that shoring up domestic agricultural production remains the most critical strategy for buffering against external volatility.

Beyond 2026, the report outlines a decades-long trajectory of steady growth for China’s agricultural sector. Total national grain output is projected to climb gradually to 733 million tons by 2030 and 753 million tons by 2035, with average grain yields per hectare expected to rise 6.3% over the next 10 years. On the demand side, national grain consumption is forecast to grow slowly before peaking at 842 million tons around 2032, after which it will stabilize and enter a gradual decline.

As domestic productivity improves and China’s agricultural goods gain stronger global competitiveness, the country’s reliance on imports for major agricultural commodities will continue to decrease over the long term, Xu explained. By 2035, total grain imports are projected to drop to 115 million tons, a 25.5% reduction from the 2023-2025 average. Soybean imports are set to fall to 82.55 million tons by 2035, a 21.5% drop from current average levels.

Other agricultural sectors are also set for structural adjustment and steady growth. The Chinese dairy industry will continue expanding, with domestic milk production projected to reach 45.07 million tons by 2030 and 51.17 million tons by 2035, for an average annual growth rate of 2%. This growth aligns with shifting domestic consumer demand: the report notes rising demand for fresh milk, alongside growing use of cheese and butter in beverages and baked goods across China.

For the pork sector, the report forecasts a gradual output decline over the next decade, as the industry transitions from a period of rapid expansion to a focus on higher-quality, more efficient production. By 2035, pork output is projected to reach 55.11 million tons, with an average annual decline of roughly 0.5%.

First launched in 2014, the annual China Agricultural Outlook report has become a core authoritative platform for evaluating China’s agricultural trends, supporting more accurate market forecasting and guiding evidence-based policy planning, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said.

On April 20, 2026, one of East Asia’s most anticipated regional trade events kicked off at the Linyi International Expo Center: the fifth iteration of the RCEP (Shandong) Import Expo. This year’s gathering has drawn participation from more than 400 international product suppliers and over 5,300 domestic and overseas buyers, marking one of the largest and most high-profile editions of the expo since its launch.

Running for three days, the exhibition space is organized into 18 dedicated national pavilions spanning a total of 1,200 individual booths, showcasing a vast, diverse assortment of goods sourced from markets across the globe. China Daily Website’s foreign expert Douglas Dueno is on-site to guide audiences through the wide range of international products on display, highlighting the expo’s role in bringing global merchandise directly to Chinese and regional buyers.

Conceived as a strategic platform to advance trade cooperation under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, the expo fills a key niche in strengthening cross-border connectivity between RCEP member economies and global trading partners. By bringing international suppliers face-to-face with bulk and retail buyers from China and beyond, the event fosters new commercial partnerships, expands market access for imported goods, and reinforces Linyi’s growing reputation as a vital hub for regional trade in northern China.

In a sunbaked, freshly harvested field on the outskirts of Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern China’s Gansu province, 54-year-old veteran lily farmer Jin Yougang kneels in dark loamy soil, gently prying apart a plump, ivory-hued bulb he has just unearthed. “This isn’t the bitter ornamental lily most people know,” Jin explains, brushing flecks of dirt from the layered scales. “Lanzhou lily is naturally sweet — crisp enough to eat fresh, just like a piece of fruit.”

Jin makes his home in Agan Town, Qilihe District, a region celebrated as the most ecologically ideal growing area for this unique crop, which thrives in the district’s cool, well-drained loess soil and dramatic diurnal temperature shifts. In 2025 alone, Qilihe District’s total Lanzhou lily output hit 33,000 metric tons, with a total output value reaching 1 billion yuan, equal to roughly $140 million.

Widely acclaimed as the only naturally sweet edible lily in China — and potentially the entire world — the Lanzhou lily’s one-of-a-kind flavor and delicate texture come at a remarkable cost of time. Unlike common agricultural crops that reach maturity in a single growing season, the journey from a tiny bulblet to a harvest-ready, full-sized Lanzhou lily takes up to nine full years. Local growers summarize this patient process in a simple proverb: “Three years to sprout, three years to grow, three years to mature.”

With more than four centuries of documented cultivation history rooted in local agricultural tradition, the Lanzhou lily has evolved far beyond a small regional specialty. Today, it has grown into a robust, multi-billion-yuan industry that sustains the livelihoods of tens of thousands of rural farming households across Gansu. A wide range of value-added products — from dried lily slices for traditional Chinese cuisine to lily-infused health supplements and snacks — have pushed the total national market value of the Lanzhou lily industry over 6.1 billion yuan, according to new data from the Qilihe District Agricultural Industrialization Office. What is more, the premium crop has expanded beyond China’s borders, finding loyal consumers in export markets including Japan, South Korea, the United States, and multiple countries across Southeast Asia, as international demand for unique, high-quality Chinese agricultural goods continues to climb.

Yet alongside growing global demand and rising market opportunities, the industry faces pressing structural challenges. Decades of reliance on traditional propagation methods have led to gradual variety degradation, with bulbs accumulating pathogens over generations that drag down both product quality and overall crop yield. To address these bottlenecks and support the industry’s long-term growth, local agricultural experts have turned to cutting-edge propagation technology to revitalize the iconic crop.

“Through lab-based propagation techniques such as virus-free seedling cultivation, we remove harmful pathogens from Lanzhou lily germplasm, then purify and rejuvenate the stock to restore the crop’s natural vitality,” explained Li Bin, a senior agronomist at the Qilihe District Agricultural Technology Extension Station. “This process improves overall bulb quality and lays a solid foundation for the industry’s shift toward high-end, value-focused development.”

Li added that researchers are combining both sexual and asexual breeding strategies, paired with rapid propagation protocols, to systematically upgrade the Lanzhou lily variety. “By integrating these different methods, our goal is to build a far more stable and efficient cultivation system that meets the needs of large-scale commercial production,” he said.

Most notably, optimized propagation systems could cut the crop’s notoriously long growing cycle from nine years down to approximately six — without sacrificing the signature sweetness and dense nutritional profile that makes Lanzhou lily so sought-after. “Our ultimate goal is to leverage agricultural technology to boost both quality and productivity,” Li noted. “That means higher incomes for local farmers, and a consistent, premium product for consumers around the world.”