'Her' power in China's foreign aid

He Yanyan: Imparting agriculture knowledge

Located in South Pacific, Samoa boasts beautiful tropical scenery, but underdeveloped fruit-growing techniques have hindered local farmers' income growth.

He Yanyan, a senior agronomist with 28 years of fruit-growing experience from Central China's Hunan province, set foot on the island country with enthusiasm.

He Yanyan demonstrates the dragon fruit planting techniques.

Orchards are the platforms to put her expertise into full use. After arriving in Samoa, she has actively promoted means of land leveling, homemade organic fertilizer, and environmentally-friendly control of pest and disease.

In China-Samoa demonstration farms and Savaii, she took the lead to build two high-yield citrus planting demonstration areas, in which 20 households planted thousands of citrus trees. Thanks to her guidance, local farmers reaped more than 5,000 kilograms of lemons and limes.

On this trip to assist people of other countries in developing agriculture, she not only brought hope of good harvest, but also built a friendship between China and Samoa.

Jiang Nan: Making farmers' dreams come true

The China-Samoa demonstration farm often saw Jiang Nan hard at work, from raising seedlings to controlling pests. Jiang, a vegetable expert from Anshan, Northeast China's Liaoning province, imparted everything she knows about growing vegetables to local farmers.

She has made glorious achievements during her stay in Samoa. She conducted experiments on more than ten technologies, cultivated 40 new varieties, and promoted eight popular varieties of tomato and watermelon. She has trained more than 140 people and cultivated 20 demonstration households, promoting the development of local vegetable industry with her knowledge and enthusiasm.

Jiang Nan (left) teaches a farmer how to use seeds and pesticides.

Many farmers came to seek her help, and Jiang worked day and night to offer assistance, as she said, "this is something I must do, because lending a helpful hand is a mission entrusted to me by my country."

Huang Bingchuan: Making mushrooms grow

Huang Bingchuan faced questions from families and friends when she decided to participate in the China-Samoa agricultural technical aid program, because her children were still very young.

"Maybe I will miss parts of their growing, but I want to let them know that I keep learning and pursuing, and am contributing to the global food security." She would like to establish an outstanding example for her kids.

Huang Bingchuan (second from left in the back row) has achieved initial success in cultivating three types of oyster mushrooms.

It's hard beyond imagination to grow mushrooms in Samoa. There's no relevant fostering history and scarce equipment and materials. Therefore, mushrooms in the country are all imported, which makes them expensive.

However, Huang was not intimidated by these obstacles, because she believed that there's always a solution. Without appropriate equipment to cut Juncao grass, she designed and modified old machines and ran tests on them. When materials were scarce, she collected substrates from beer plants, furniture factories and farmers' houses. Lacking sterilization equipment, she sketched a draft and led workers to produce a simple one with oil buckets and steel tubes.

Her efforts finally paid off. In August 2024, the first oyster mushroom broke through the breeding bag, and at the beginning of 2025, new Juncao shoots were sprouting at the demonstration base. By that time, her students there have known how to cultivate Juncao grass on their own.

Huang always takes herself as a mushroom planter, but what she plants is not only mushrooms, but also an example for her kids and the commitment of experts to foreign aid efforts.

Qiu Xianjuan: Spreading green hope

In 2024, Qiu Xianjuan, a vegetable expert, went to Samoa and promoted local development through China's vegetable-growing technology. She developed more than 50 high-yield vegetable varieties, and introduced more than a dozen management techniques, increasing vegetable yield per unit area by 15 percent at the China-Samoa demonstration farm.

Qiu Xianjuan (third from left) shares vegetable planting techniques with Samoan farmers.

Samoa has been importing watermelons for a long time, and Qiu is committed to changing the situation. Facing challenges such as scarce agricultural materials, barren soil and risk of dengue, Qiu surveyed climate and soil conditions, and produced homemade organic fertilizers in light of local conditions to improve soil fertility. She also promoted the use of greenhouse and drip irrigation technology and made many experiments to find the most suitable one for the country from dozens of watermelon varieties introduced from China.

A year later, the Kirin watermelon was successfully harvested, putting an end to the belief that watermelons could not be grown in Samoa. Local officials gave their thumbs up when seeing round and plump watermelons.

Apart from addressing practical problems, she also paid attention to long-term issues. She wrote technical manuals, held training events, and recommended talents to study in China, cultivating an agricultural technical team for Samoa.

Peng Huan: Interpreting language and emotion

At the office of Samoa's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) in March 2025, China and Samoa's senior officials had an in-depth discussion on agricultural cooperation. Interpreter Peng Huan conveyed the two sides' voices precisely. China's ambassador to Samoa praised her for building the bridge of communication. This affirmation serves as a vivid testimony to her efforts in Samoa.

Peng Huan (first from left) communicates with local farmers.

In April 2024, Peng went to Samoa to work as an interpreter, liaison officer and cultural envoy. On the Upolu Island, she visited farmers with experts, translated rigid agricultural terms into easy-to-understand language and recorded farmers' needs word by word. Dozens of surveys led her to 60 demonstration households in the country, where she shared and spread China's experience by overcoming language barriers.

She has played an active part on important occasions. At MAF monthly meetings, she precisely interpreted experts' opinions. During interviews, she helped reporters to understand project results. She explained complicated agricultural techniques to intern students from the University of the South Pacific, imparting knowledge in an effective way.

More remarkably, she introduced China's traditional festivals and culture to Samoan people by inviting them to participate in festive gatherings and enjoy Chinese food.

"You have interpreted not only language, but emotion," MAF Chief Executive Officer Seuseu Joseph Tauati said, lauding her efforts.