ROME - China and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) signed on Sunday a 50-million-US-dollar agreement to support developing countries in building sustainable food systems and inclusive agricultural value chains, recognizing the growing importance of collaboration between Southern countries in the fight against extreme hunger and poverty.

China's new contribution to the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Trust Fund will support the exchange of Chinese agricultural experts with countries in the global South, particularly in low-income food-deficit areas of Central Asia, the Pacific Islands, Africa and Latin America, over a period of five years.

"China has made strides in decreasing hunger and has used its own experience to support other countries in doing the same," FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the FAO's 39th Conference between June 6 and 13.

"It has become clear that while we have the power to end hunger in our lifetime, we will only succeed if we work together - Southern countries empowering one another by exchanging knowledge and tools is a key part of this," he added.

Since 1990, China has successfully lifted 138 million of its people out of chronic hunger and reached the Millennium Development Goal of halving the prevalence of hunger ahead of the 2015 deadline.

"China is the leading agricultural producer among the developing countries; FAO is the world's top agricultural organization. We are ready to enhance our cooperation with FAO, which will not only benefit agricultural development and progress toward hunger reduction targets, but also the poor and hungry people of the world," said Wang Yang, Vice Premier of China, who witnessed the ceremony.

Han Changfu, Minister for Agriculture of China signed the MoU on behalf of his country.