In the seven years since the Hainan FTP blueprint was unveiled, one of the most striking changes has taken shape in Sanya's Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City — a zone built around seed breeding and deep-sea research. It now brings together many of China's leading institutes and is emerging as a hub for international cooperation. Among them is the National Nanfan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, where African scientists are exploring solutions to food security challenges back home. CGTN brings you the story from Sanya and Ghana.

This is Hainan, where winter brings not just tourists, but also agricultural researchers.

Among them is Dr. Han Tianfu, chief scientist of the soybean breeding innovation team at the National Nanfan Research Institute. He's developed an unusually tall soybean variety and is showing it to his colleague Dr. Felix Dakora — who's always thinking: How could this be applied in Africa?

FELIX DAPARE DAKORA Senior Advisor to the National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), CAAS "Me coming from Africa, the most important question is food security. Why can't we feed ourselves? We have the soil, we have the land. What is the problem?"

One problem is the lack of research infrastructure.

Here in Sanya, Dr. Dakora shows his African students what's possible with China's advanced equipment. These resources could be a game changer for scientists like this young researcher from Zimbabwe.

PRECIOUS MANGENA Plant Breeding Research Fellow, National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), CAAS "So if you look at our country, it might take about 7 to 8 years to have a rice variety. And when you reach that eight years, probably the problem that you're breeding for, it won't be relevant at the time. But if you look at China, they have accelerated methods, which means you get your rice variety to address the problem that you have in a shorter period. So when you get the variety, it will be able to address the problem in time."

These labs are just one of many such facilities at Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.

What was once a seasonal winter breeding ground has been transformed into a year-round research hub that's been tasked to become the country's "Silicon Valley of Seeds." Progress made here can increase yield across China and beyond.

HAN TIANFU Chief scientist of the soybean breeding innovation team, National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), CAAS "China and Africa can work together. Africa can produce soybeans to feed their own people. And their exports can be shipped to China. This way they can get money to reduce poverty, and China can get stable and diverse soybean supply. That is a win-win collaboration."

In Ghana, CGTN meets Dr. Enoch Sapey, who studied soybean breeding with Professor Han in Sanya.

ENOCH SAPEY Research Scientist, Ghana CSIR-Oil Palm Research Institute "In 2017, I had a Chinese government scholarship to study in China, at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The reason why I went to Sanya is because it provided an ideal environment to screen genome types that are adapted to tropical regions like Ghana and Africa. It was a wonderful experience, and it's been helpful, especially setting up field trials. It's been helpful in my oil palm breeding work here in Ghana."

Oil palm is one of Ghana's most important cash crops, crucial to rural livelihoods and the national economy. But the equipment gap remains a challenge.

ENOCH SAPEY Research Scientist, Ghana CSIR-Oil Palm Research Institute "In Ghana, in the oil palm research, we lack those facilities. For instance, we don't have a fancy molecular laboratory. We don't have funds for most of our research. So that's the hindrance over here."

Back in Sanya, Dr. Dakora has a clear-eyed view of what collaboration can and can't achieve.

FELIX DAPARE DAKORA Senior Advisor to the National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), CAAS "China can keep providing support to Africa. But it is Africa's cry, it is Africa's problem."

African scientists hope that their countries will catch up, and for now they are investing in the partnership with China, learning the language, and planting seeds for long lasting relationships that start here in Hainan.

Chen Mengfei, CGTN, Yazhou.