The signing ceremony for an African cashew deep processing project was held at the Airport Block of Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone Changsha Area on May 28. The project was invested by the Afritech Greencrops Group (ATGC) with 200 million yuan. The group will build a supporting processing base with an annual output of 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of cashew nuts and related products at the Airport Block, carrying out deep processing of African cashew nuts, such as baking and seasoning.

The signing ceremony.

ATGC is deeply engaged in agricultural projects in Tanzania, with three major bases laid out there, namely, the Dar es Salaam headquarters, the cassava planting and deep processing base in the north, and the Mtwara production base for cashews and sesame in the south. The group has occupied the source, production, and downstream wholesale markets and leveraged the Airport Block's advantages of being both a free pilot zone and a comprehensive bonded zone as a means to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance trade facilitation.

Later, ATGC will purchase land at the Airport Block to build a headquarters building and a production base. With the signing of the project, the Airport Block has made new breakthroughs in bonded processing and trade with Africa. To date, 106 enterprises in the Airport Block have participated in economic and trade cooperation with Africa. In the next step, the Airport Block will strengthen coordination with Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone and Hunan Gaoqiao Grand Market, vigorously develop new business forms such as the export of second-hand construction machinery, the re-export of automobiles after bonded maintenance, and spare parts bonded warehousing, and facilitate the developmet of an Africa-oriented characteristic industry featuring the integration of bonded processing and cross-border e-commerce.