As the first West African country to sign a cooperation agreement with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, Senegal enjoys a special place in China-Africa relations. Not only is China one of Senegal's largest trading partners, it is also the latter's most important source of investment. In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Senegalese President Macky Sall announced the elevation of Sino-Senegalese relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. As co-chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Senegal will host the Eighth FOCAC Ministerial Conference in 2021. Ahead of the First China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo to be held in Changsha on June 27-29, Beijing Review interviewed Aminata Assome Diatta, Senegalese Minister of Trade and Small and Medium Enterprises, to discuss her country's relations and prospects for trade with China. Edited excerpts follow:

Beijing Review: Trade relations between China and Senegal are growing steadily. What do you think is the key behind this success?

Aminata Assome Diatta: The key to this success lies mainly in the common will of our two heads of state. China has become a strategic partner for developing countries and for a country like Senegal, which is also looking to diversify its global partners. We cannot find a better friend than China to ensure our development goals are met. This is the reason why we are very interested in Senegal-China cooperation.

Senegal was the first country to welcome President Xi Jinping during his last visit to Africa [in July 2018], which really underlined the perfect agreement between the Chinese and Senegalese presidents. In addition, Senegal now has the honor of being the co-chair of FOCAC, so we are very interested in working together.

As an old Chinese saying goes: "As distance can test a horse's strength, so time can reveal a person's heart." Given our relations with China, what we have been able to achieve in the space of just a few years forms the basis of the success of our relations.

What are the main developments in economic and trade exchanges between our two countries at the moment?

It must be said that among our trading partners, China has moved from 24th place in 2013 to fifth in 2018 by trade volume. We export a lot of products to China by taking advantage of zero tariff rates. For example, this allows us to ship to the Chinese market about 97 percent of our peanut exports.

But we mainly export primary products that are not processed and import manufactured products from China. To address this issue, we should not only seek to facilitate our trade with China by extending the range of products that we export, but we should also ensure that Senegal can still enjoy some preferential rates on certain products that have added value but do not fall into the zero-tariff category, such as peanut oil.

China has made a number of investments in Senegal. These include the Pikine National Wrestling Arena, the C&H Garment Factory and the Dakar-Thies Highway, among others. In fact, a country cannot develop its economy without road infrastructure, which is why we welcome the Chinese investments that made these projects possible.

As the incumbent co-chair of FOCAC, what steps will Senegal take to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa?

FOCAC is a model for strengthening South-South cooperation. Among the main issues that can be addressed at this forum, one of the most important is without a doubt the industrialization of the continent. Africa can rely on China for its development, because China is itself a developing country, even though it is a very large country. As such, it knows much more about the realities and challenges that different African countries are facing. So, we intend to turn this platform into a win-win cooperation for all parties, for both China and Africa.

Senegal, as a representative of the least developed countries on the African continent, can ensure that the concerns of these countries are really taken care of in this cooperation, so that they can count on China to ensure their future development.

The First China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will be held in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, at the end of June. What are your expectations regarding this event?

I will lead the Senegalese delegation on this occasion, for which preparations are already under way. In fact, I recently met with a delegation from Hunan and we are possibilities for cooperation with them. Our delegation will include a strong presence from the private sector, which can boost our trade exchanges the most. Once we are in Hunan, we will be able to see which technologies could help us realize the structural transformation of the Senegalese economy.

We are seeking inspiration from what is happening there [in Hunan]. We also want to see what can be done in terms of technology transfer.

We are aware that the products we want to export to the Chinese market are facing a number of issues. For example, with respect to Senegalese mango exports, we noted that a major difficulty is the length of the trip, which can affect the quality of the fruits once they arrive. So, we discussed the need for Chinese companies to invest directly in mango producing areas in Senegal to process mangos on the ground.

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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