China says groundless to blame it for Africa famine
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Xinhua, August 24, 2011
A Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Wednesday refuted claims that China's land purchases in the Horn of Africa had contributed to the famine ravaging the region.
"I've been to Africa last and this year. I found that grain products from Sino-African projects were sold within Africa to meet local demand. No single grain of rice was shipped to China," said Shen Danyang, the new MOC spokesman, at a press conference.
He said that China's investments in agricultural projects in Africa were aimed at raising agricultural production capacity there.
French media reported recently that Germany's Africa policy coordinator Guenter Nooke claimed that Chinese investments were focused on farming for export which led to "major social conflicts in Africa when small farmers have their land and thus their livelihoods taken away."
Africa's natural resources and weather condition favor agricultural production while China has an advantage in agricultural and grain production technologies, said Shen.
The Chinese government has pledged more than 400 million yuan (62.47 million U.S. dollars) worth of foodstuffs for drought-hit northeastern African nations and most of the goods will arrive before the end of September, he added.
"What we offer are wheat, rice, flour and sugar that recipient countries are in need of. Besides, we plan to offer funds to four African countries through the United Nations Development Programme and help Djibouti with well drilling," the spokesman said.
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