Madagascar's President Andry Nirina Rajoelina has called for more agricultural cooperation with China, saying the two countries will set an example for China-Africa cooperation.
In an interview with the China Central Television (CCTV) after attending the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September, Rajoelina shared his plan on expanding cooperation with China.
"Madagascar is Africa's largest island. When you browse the world map and take a closer look at Africa, Madagascar, as the largest island in southwestern Africa, cannot be overlooked. Its location is of great strategic significance. We urgently need to promote multiple cooperation projects, especially in the fields of agriculture and agricultural transition. Madagascar will play a demonstrative role in China-Africa cooperation," Rajoelina said.
As the world's fourth largest island, Madagascar is one of the world's prime biodiversity hotspots and approximately 90 percent of its plant and animal species are endemic, including its lemurs and baobab trees.
China and Madagascar established diplomatic ties in 1972. On September 6 this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Rajoelina in Beijing. The two leaders announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Madagascar was one of the first African countries to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China and one of the founding countries of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Madagascar to play demonstrative role in China-Africa cooperation: president
China's outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), adopted on Thursday, maps out a systematic path toward high-quality development by building new growth drivers through the fostering of emerging and future industries.
In the latest five-year blueprint, the emerging strategic industries China will nurture have been expanded to include new sectors like intelligent connected new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and robotics. It also outlines plans to establish emerging strategic industry clusters tailored to local conditions, each with its own distinctive features and complementary strengths.
Experts suggested that this marks a shift for emerging industries -- from isolated breakthroughs to scaled, clustered development.
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we aim to further promote and expand emerging industries in both scale and quality. The development of industrial clusters is a clear reflection of economies of scale. Building on the existing foundation, this will further sharpen the international competitiveness of our emerging industries. The blueprint's emphasis on new application scenarios and innovative business models will also help steer these industries toward a higher quality of development," said Wei Qijia, a researcher at the State Information Center, which is under China's National Development and Reform Commission.
The plan also identifies key frontiers to reach, including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G. Moving beyond mere technological roadmaps, it also stresses the need to build a full-chain incubation system for future industries.
"This forward-looking approach reflects a keen sense of foresight. The plan introduces mechanisms for identifying and monitoring emerging industries and making dynamic adjustments accordingly. If a particular new area or arena shows potential to foster emerging future technologies, it needs to be identified as early as possible. The blueprint's specific references to initiatives such as pilot zones for future industries and research institutes dedicated to their development also signal an important direction in terms of working methodology -- providing clear guidance on how to nurture the industries of the future," he said.
China's five-year blueprint set to foster emerging, future industries
