On the afternoon of June 23, 2026 local time, Zhu Chen, Chairman of Mainland Group, paid a courtesy call on Daniel G. Chongolo, Minister of Agriculture of the United Republic of Tanzania. The two sides held in-depth discussions on agricultural industrialization, expanding investment in deep processing of agricultural products, improving crop cultivation efficiency and youth agribusiness cooperation, to jointly explore new paths for government-enterprise coordination.

Group photo of Daniel G. Chongolo, Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania and Zhu Chen, Chairman of Mainland Group

During the talks, Chairman Zhu Chen delivered a comprehensive briefing to Minister Chongolo covering the Group’s overall operation status and medium-to-long term industrial plans in Tanzania. He highlighted the construction and operation achievements of the Dodoma sunflower seed oil processing plant, and elaborated the Group’s investment layout for processing rice, corn, coffee beans, and other agricultural products.

Zhu Chen stated that Mainland’s Dodoma Sunflower Seed Oil Project was officially commissioned in July 2025. Equipped with complete state-of-the-art pressing, refining, and warehousing facilities, the plant boasts an annual output of 35,000 metric tons of sunflower oil and 70,000 metric tons of sunflower seed meal. Fully leveraging local native raw material resources, the project greatly raises the added value of agricultural products and directly increases production and income for surrounding farmers. Going forward, the Group will further develop the full sunflower seed industrial chain and steadily expand processing segments of rice, corn, and coffee. By popularizing advanced planting technologies, establishing a complete agricultural supporting service system, and building long-term stable production-sales partnerships, Mainland will continuously enhance agricultural productivity and farmers’ operating income, and support the modernization of Tanzania’s agriculture.

Scene of bilateral on-site exchange

Minister Chongolo highly recognized Mainland Group’s tangible achievements of taking root in Tanzania for years, developing agricultural processing industries and raising farmers’ income. He warmly welcomed and supported the Group’s continuous investment expansion in local deep processing sectors. In view of agricultural resource endowments and regional industrial plans across Tanzania, the Minister put forward a series of constructive guidance on optimizing regional distribution of agricultural goods, accelerating new project rollout, and developing distinctive new products.

During the meeting, Minister Chongolo introduced the BBT (Building a Better Tomorrow) Youth Agricultural Development Program launched by the Tanzanian government. The program aims to support local youth to engage in agriculture and foster domestic agricultural entrepreneurs through professional skill training and targeted production-sales matching. The Minister noted that local young people generally lack mature processing technologies and stable export channels, while Mainland’s diversified processing layout perfectly matches the development needs of the Program. He expected the government and the Group to jointly build an integrated platform for agricultural technical training and production-marketing linkage, and perfect supporting systems for processing and export. Meanwhile, he hoped Mainland could fully leverage its industrial, technological, and market strengths to deeply participate in the Program’s implementation, jointly boost youth employment and entrepreneurship as well as agricultural industrial upgrading, and achieve mutual benefit and coordinated development for both sides.

Group photo of both delegations

This meeting consolidates the foundation of government-enterprise cooperation. Going forward, Mainland Group will connect its existing oil processing production capacity with the BBT-related cooperation, providing local young farmers with improved seeds, technical guidance, and production-marketing support. Through industrial development, the Group will help increase farmers' incomes and improve agricultural quality, continuously deepening practical China-Africa agricultural cooperation.