HNU Hosts China-Africa Think Tank Seminar on Economic and Trade Cooperation-湖南大学英文网

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HNU Hosts China-Africa Think Tank Seminar on Economic and Trade Cooperation

The China-Africa Think Tank Seminar on Economic and Trade Cooperation kicked off at the Changsha International Conference Center on July 1, during the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE).

Leaders and distinguished guests addressing the opening ceremony included: Lai Mingyong, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice-chairman of the CPPCC Hunan Provincial Committee; Albert Muchanga, commissioner for the Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining of the African Union Commission (AUC); Ashish Shah, director of the Division of Country Programmes (DCP) of the International Trade Center of the United Nations; Deng Wei, president of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Research Institute (CAETCRI) and secretary of CPC HNU Committee; and, Zhang Wei, vice president of the Research Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce. Xie Chi, vice president of CAETCRI and also vice president of HNU, presided over the ceremony.

More than 300 representatives were present at the seminar, including government representatives and envoys of nine African countries -- Malawi, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone; representatives of international organizations, Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and commercial authorities of Hunan and other provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities; representatives of the think tanks, experts and scholars on Africa studies; representatives of key domestic enterprises, business associations and financial institutions for cooperation with Africa; and, media reporters.

The seminar was hosted by CAETCRI and the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, and co-organized by the School of Economics and Trade of HNU, “Belt and Road” Initiative Research Institute of Tsinghua University, and the Economics and Trade Research Institute jointly established by HNU and the Hunan Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA).

Themed "Cooperation and Mutual Benefit in the China-Africa Economic and Trade amid the Changes Unseen in a Century", it aims to gather the researchers of domestic and foreign think tanks and provide strong intellectual support for the construction of China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation.

At the seminar, CAETCRI released the "African Digital Economy Development Index and China-Africa Digital Economy Cooperation Report (2023)", "Research on Expanding African Agricultural Product Imports and Building "Green Channels", and "Report on the Legal Environment of the Guest Countries of the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo".

A number of leaders delivered keynote speeches at the seminar, including Pei Changhong, former director of the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Peter Kagwanja, chief executive of Nairobi-headquartered Africa Policy Institute; Liu Hongwu, dean of the Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University; Tesfaye Zelleke, dean of the Institute of Development Studies of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia; and, Yao Guimei, director of the Centre of Southern African Studies (COSAS) of the China-Africa Institute. They successively lectured on the topics of "Implications of the Chinese-Style Modernization for Africa’s Development", "China-Africa Trade Cooperation: An Inflection Point of Development", and "Seizing the Opportunities and Challenges of China-Africa Cooperation in the New Era with Strategic Vision, Pragmatic Measures and Project Implementation", "China-Egypt Investment Relations: Prospects for Future Bilateral Exchanges" and "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects".

Two themed think tank dialogues were held then, namely "High-quality China-Africa Joint Construction of ‘Belt and Road’ in Changes Unseen in a Century" and "Stable Development and Win-win Cooperation of China-Africa Industrial and Supply Chains". Experts and scholars remarked that, with the pragmatic and in-depth implementation of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has demonstrated strong resilience and promising prospects.