On June 11, 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation in agriculture. The agreement was concluded on the sidelines of the 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Changsha, capital of China’s Hunan province. The deal was officially presented on June 20, 2025, during the DRC’s 48th Council of Ministers by Grégoire Mutshail Mutomb, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security.

This initial agreement lays the foundation for a future strategic partnership focused on strengthening the DRC’s food sovereignty. It outlines several areas of collaboration, including technical knowledge sharing, development of trade channels for exporting Congolese products, and support for agricultural research through partnerships with Chinese institutions.

The company Modern Agriculture Trading SARL will serve as the technical partner for engaging with China’s Hunan Renjian Woxiang Group to establish bilateral purchasing mechanisms.

Although no implementation timeline was provided, the Council of Ministers has approved the creation of a multisectoral committee to oversee the technical and operational follow-up of the proposed partnership.

This memorandum is part of a series of recent agriculture-related agreements between the DRC and China. In April 2025, a cooperation agreement was signed with Chinese firm Hunan Linshi Agricultural Service Ltd to improve crop and vegetable productivity in the DRC through various initiatives.

In September 2024, the DRC’s Minister of External Trade, Julien Paluku Kahongia, facilitated the signing of a memorandum aimed at exporting more than one million tons of agricultural products from the DRC to China by Congolese producers.

In March 2025, a Chinese delegation visited the DRC’s Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to begin discussions on a partnership to enable the annual production of five million white-feathered chicks in the country.