The 1st China-Africa Cooperation Yuelu Forum opened in Changsha on September 19. Chinese and foreign scholars, experts, and entrepreneurs held discussions on economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.

The forum was hosted by Hunan University and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Research Institute. The institute is based on Hunan University, and collaborated with Central South University, Xiangtan University, and Hunan Agricultural University. The forum is a national-level platform, based on the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, to promote Hunan’s rise in all respects. It is also an important practice to build an even stronger China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, and satisfies new requirements of boosting high-quality development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation with high-end think tanks.

Jin Xu, chairperson of the China Association of International Trade (CAIT), and other 10 experts delivered keynote lectures. At the panels, participants discussed about “bringing thank tanks into full play to promote investment in Africa” and other topics, to provide advices and policy support to China-Africa economic and trade cooperation work.

The forum received 96 papers, covering Hunan-Africa cooperation in such fields as agriculture, industrial capacity, infrastructure, finance, trade, medical treatment, and culture.