On June 12, Her Excellency Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, Yan Jiarong, hosted a pre-departure reception for the 23 participants who will attend “Seminar on Agro- and By-products Production Strategy for The Bahamas” in China. Also in attendance were Hon. Jomo Campbell, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources; Hon. Sen. Darron Pickstock, Executive Chairman of Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation; and Mr. Donovan Moxey, President of Bahamas-China Friendship Association.

Ambassador Yan briefed on China's agricultural modernization and China-Bahamas agricultural cooperation, highlighting that the seminar is an important initiative to implement the outcomes of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum. The Ambassador said that the seminar is exclusively for the Bahamian and tailored for Bahamas’ needs. She saw great prospects for China-Bahamas agricultural cooperation and committed China’s willingness to share advanced agricultural technologies with countries in the Global South, including The Bahamas, to realize common and sustainable development.

Minister Campbell thanked China for its longstanding and tremendous support for the agricultural development of The Bahamas, stating that the seminarwill help The Bahamas implement its food security and economic diversification strategies. Participant representatives said they would cherish the training opportunity and widely disseminate the knowledge and technology they learned in China to contribute to The Bahamas' agricultural development.

Mainstream media interviewed Ambassador Yan and Minister Campbell and made extensive coverage of this event.