In the early morning in Kandal Steung District, Pursat Province, Cambodia, the golden sunlight shines on the factory area of Zhongbao (Cambodia) Food Technology Co., Ltd. Four to five hundred tons of fresh mangoes are being unloaded from trucks. On the assembly line, workers skillfully wash, cut and dry the mangoes, and the air is filled with a rich fruity aroma. These dried mangoes that are about to be made will be loaded onto a cargo ship and can be placed on the shelves of Chinese supermarkets in just ten days, becoming a delicious treat loved by consumers. Looking at the bustling and busy scene in front of him, Ouyang Jianbin, the general manager of the company, always gets lost in memories, his thoughts drifting back to the time when he first arrived in Cambodia.

In 2020, as a Fujian businessman, Ouyang Jianbin, burdened with the heavy responsibility of overseas investment and factory establishment for Zhongbao (Fujian) Food Technology Co., Ltd., came to Kandal Steung District for inspection. At that time, it was the mango ripening season. Mango trees covered the mountains and plains, laden with golden fruits, as if the mountains and forests were draped in a golden glow. After in-depth investigation, Ouyang Jianbin was pleasantly surprised to find that the mangoes here were the ideal choice. The fruits were plump and evenly shaped, with an attractive color, the perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, and the yield was considerable. Coupled with the fact that Kandal Steung District is adjacent to the water transportation hub of Sihanoukville Port, the convenient transportation conditions made him make a prompt decision - build a dried mango processing factory right here!

However, during the inspection process, the living conditions of the local fruit farmers made Ouyang Jianbin deeply concerned. Although they were rich in mango resources, a family of six or seven people could only squeeze into a small house of more than 40 square meters and sleep on the floor. Due to the lack of sales channels, besides a small amount of mangoes that could be sold in nearby villages and towns, a large number of fruits picked by the fruit farmers with great effort could only pile up under the trees and gradually rot. The piles of mangoes turning into rotten mud stung Ouyang Jianbin's heart, and he secretly vowed: "When the factory is built, I will never let the fruit farmers here stay poor while sitting on a 'golden mountain'!"

In January 2021, the factory was officially put into production. Once the Cambodian dried mangoes entered the Chinese market, they quickly won the favor of consumers with their unique flavor and high quality. The factory's efficiency has been steadily increasing, and the production scale has been continuously expanding. Now, the factory area has been expanded to 45,000 square meters, and more than 2,600 local employees have found employment here. The factory purchases 90,000 tons of mangoes every year, and the output of dried mangoes exceeds 12,000 tons.

While the factory is developing, the Chinese enterprise actively teaches technology to the local fruit farmers. Technicians provide hands-on guidance to the fruit farmers on adjusting pest control and pesticide residue treatment methods, almost doubling the mango yield. The advanced standards, mature experience and modern production lines brought by the Chinese side not only help the development of Zhongbao (Cambodia) Food Technology Co., Ltd., but also drive the rise of the local dried mango industry in Cambodia, and the popularity of local mango brands is increasing day by day. In 2024, the export value of fresh mangoes from Cambodia exceeded 140 million US dollars, an increase of 24% compared with the previous year, and China has become one of its most important import markets.

Bin Sovithisak, Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, lamented: "In recent years, Chinese enterprises have responded to the Belt and Road Initiative and taken root in Cambodia, bringing advanced technologies to increase the added value of agricultural products. Driven by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement, Cambodia and China have achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation in many fields, including agriculture."

In Kandal Steung District, Zhongbao (Cambodia) Food Technology Co., Ltd. is already well-known. The nearby fruit farmers sell their fresh mangoes to the factory while the whole family goes to work in the factory. To improve the living conditions of the employees, Ouyang Jianbin led the company to rent the surrounding land and build storefront houses, which are rented out at a low price to restaurants and grocery stores to meet the daily living needs of the employees. Over the past few years, a small town that has thrived because of mangoes has risen from the ground around the once quiet factory area. The factory has also set up a scholarship for the neighboring primary school to help the children of employees pursue their academic dreams.

The Cambodian girl Disreymom has been working in the factory for two years. When talking about the dried mangoes she makes, she has a bright smile: "I've tasted them, they are very sweet! This job makes my life full of hope." The sweet dried mangoes not only connect the economic and trade exchanges between China and Cambodia, but also carry the yearning of countless Cambodian people for a better life, and witness the beautiful chapter of win-win cooperation between China and Cambodia. (This article is from the official website of Seetao.com, www.seetao.com. No reprinting is allowed without permission. Otherwise, legal liability will be pursued. If reprinting, please indicate Seetao.com + the original text link.) Editor of the Strategic Column of Seetao.com / Yin Shiqian