On September 14, Madagascar's Prime Minister Mamitiana Rajaonarison unveiled the Research Center for Madagascar of the Institute of African Studies, Hunan University (HNU). The establishment of the center will serve as an academic platform integrating think tank research, industrial empowerment, and people-to-people exchanges to deepen the China-Madagascar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and support high-quality economic and trade cooperation between Hunan and Madagascar.

The center was established by the HNU Institute of African Studies. Bringing together multidisciplinary research expertise, it focuses on multiple aspects including Madagascar's business environment, China-Madagascar industrial chain and supply chain cooperation, food security and agricultural technology collaboration, and people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding, aiming to promote the transformation of China-Madagascar cooperation from fragmented projects toward systematic, institutionalized development.

The center has set phased development goals. In the short term, it will establish an industry-academia-research joint research platform to form mechanisms for intellectual support, talent cultivation, and cultural dissemination that facilitate China-Madagascar economic and trade cooperation. In the medium term, it plans to publish the "Report on China-Madagascar Economic and Trade Cooperation Development," and build a thematic database. In the long term, it is committed to creating a country-specific research platform with international influence that can be replicated and promoted.

Building on earlier work, the center has produced an array of cross-disciplinary research and cultural achievements, including an AI agent for Madagascar knowledge Q&A, a documentary on hybrid rice cooperation, a Malagasy-language AI short drama created by a Malagasy postdoctoral fellow, and research outcomes on tropical agriculture and specialized chips. The center will also strengthen strategic cooperation with Malagasy universities such as the University of Antananarivo to facilitate academic exchanges between China and Madagascar.

Xu Helian, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC HNU Committee, assistant to the president, and also head of theInstitute of African Studies, attended the ceremony.

At the inauguration ceremony.