Thai cooperation sweetens China sugar industry
WITH sugar cane harvesting and crushing season in early December drawing near, huang Yongjun has recently been checking the growth of his sugar cane more frequently.
The 41-year-old sugar cane grower in Buli Village under the city of Chongzuo, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was pleased to see his cane much taller than cane in neighbouring fields – thanks to the more advanced pest control measures he employs.
“The company provided me with fine seedlings and technologies,” said huang.
The company huang mentioned is Guangxi Nanning east Asia Sugar Group, a Sino-thai joint venture.
The subtropical Guangxi enjoys a humid and hot monsoon climate that suits sugar cane cultivation.
The region’s sugar cane output accounts for more than 60% of the country’s total. Chongzuo, where huang lives, is dubbed “the capital of sugar” in China.
In 1993, five state-owned sugar companies in Chongzuo and Thailand’s leading sugar producer Mitr Phol established the joint venture.
According to Li Zhang, vice-president of public relations at the company, their business involves sugar production, bio-energy, fertiliser, yeast and feed.
“The cane not only produces sugar, but also lots of side products, forming a circular economy,” said huang Qinyong of the industrial park. he explained that bagasse can generate electricity or be used for making paper, filter mud can be made into fertiliser and waste sugar cane molasses can be processed into yeast products.
This China-thailand cooperation has not only sweetened the life of sugar cane growers, but also promoted exchanges between Chinese and Asean enterprises.
Thai coffee giant Cafe Amazon opened its first coffee shop in China in 2019 through cooperation with sugar enterprises in Guangxi, while an engineering and construction enterprise in Guangxi signed contracts with a number of sugar refinery projects in Thailand.
The Chongzuo park has also established friendly relations with several industrial parks in Thailand, becoming a successful model for deepening production capacity and economic and trade cooperation with Asean countries.