The 10th China-Africa Think Tank Forum held
The 10th Meeting of China-Africa Think Tanks Forum was held in Hangzhou, China on 20th October 2021, this being the opening session for the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Senegal.
The Forum brought together more than 200 political, academic, media and business representatives from China and 15 African countries including Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania, Morocco, Madagascar and Liberia where participants held in-depth and extensive discussions on the theme of “Strengthening Solidarity and Cooperation, Enhancing Innovation and Development to Build together a China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”.
The aim is to strongly enhance deep understanding between China and Africa, promote the development of China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and play a role in building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.
The opening ceremony was addressed by Mr. Deng Li, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Abdoulaye DIOP, Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Communication of the Republic of Senegal, among other senior Government officials from South Africa, Cameroon and Senegal.
The China-Africa Think Tank Forum, one of the important forums under the framework of FOCAC, was founded in 2011 by the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, and has just been in its 10th year since. Over the past decade, the Forum of China-Africa Think Tanks, with the aim of “people-oriented, government participation, frank dialogue and consensus-building”, has held nine sessions in China and Africa under the guidance of the FOCAC Office of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, effectively promoting China-Africa exchanges and mutual understanding, and serving as an important platform for Chinese and African academia and think tanks to jointly promote the implementation of China-Africa comprehensive cooperation and provide independent knowledge products and intellectual wisdom for developing countries.
Over the past decade, the China-Africa Think Tank Forum has been fruitful and far-reaching in results and influence. In 2012, the forum was formally incorporated into the framework of FOCAC. In 2013, then State Councilor Yang Jiechi attended the third session of the China-Africa Think Tank Forum, noting that the forum has set up a mechanism platform for exchanges between Scholars from China and Africa think tanks and has strongly promoted China-Africa ideological exchange dialogue.
As one of the founders of the China-Africa Think Tank Forum and the main organizer, the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University adheres to its deep commitment to African studies and has manifested extensive domestic and international influence. The institute has been selected as “the Best Regional Research Center (University- Affiliated)” of the Global Think Tank Report of the University of Pennsylvania for five consecutive years since 2016. There are only 32 global think tanks on the list, and only three in China.
Prominent Chinese and African scholars delivered keynote speeches among them Ambassador Xu Bu, President of the China Institute of International Studies, Ambassador Gert Grobler, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University and the former Acting Deputy Director-General for the Americas and Europe of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Mr. Xiao Han where the scholars shared their original research results and related new ideas and new thinking to the conference.
The scholars equally interpreted the value and practical significance of jointly building the China-Africa Community with a Shared Future, expressing fervent expectations of both sides. The plenary was chaired by Mr. Liu Hongwu, Director of the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, and founder of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum.
StarTimes participated as a media partner of the conference. William Ma, Overseas PR Director of the group, shared opinions on the panel regarding value and contribution of media in the prevention of epidemics in Africa, which includes promoting anti-epidemic information through comprehensive media and facilities such as the “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” Project.
During the meeting, the organizers also held a number of theatrical exhibitions, such as Zhejiang Normal University African Research Exhibition and the Foreign Affairs (Hong Kong and Macao) Work Photo Exhibition (the painting and photography exhibition) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. Sino-African Development Cooperation :Studies on the Theories,Strategies,and Policies,written by Liu Hongwu and Luo Jianbo, China-Africa Intellectual Cooperation on Good Governance ——Reports of China-Africa Think Tank Forums（2010-2019）co-written by Wang Heng and others.
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