Sponsored by the Sino-Secretariat of the Follow-Up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and hosted by the African Research Center of Wuhan University (WHU), the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program Steering Committee held an expanded meeting at WHU. Prof. Liu Hongwu, director of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University (IASZNU), was invited to attend and delivered a keynote speech.

Prof. Liu opened his speech from the macro perspective of the successful conclusion of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the full opening of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and the need to adhere to the developmental model of African studies with Chinese characteristics. He also made a detailed discussion on the main achievements of the work of IASZNU since 2019, and put forward practical suggestions for the Forum and the exchange plan.

Wu Peng, director general of the Department of African Affairs of MOFA; Du Xiankang, president of WHU; Tang Qizhu, vice president of WHU; as well as experts and scholars from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Institute of West-Asian and African at CASS, Zhejiang Normal University, among others attended the meeting.

Expanded Meeting of the Steering Committee of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Prof. Liu focused on the fact that IASZNU is constantly advancing African studies with Chinese characteristics, promoting the domestic status of African studies and establishing the academic discipline of African studies throughout national scientific platforms.

From left to right: Du Xiankang, president of WHU; Wu Peng, director general of the Department of African Affairs of MOFA; Liu Hongwu, president IASZNU, and Tang Qizhu, vice president of WHU

In view of the challenges in the development of the discipline of African studies, Prof. Liu pointed out that the current status of African studies has not been generally recognized in China as a discipline, thus the foundation of the discipline is still weak, and the academic visions and role of younger scholars still have progress to make: “In this relatively difficult field of African studies, it is challenging and crucial for us to guide the younger generation of scholars to remain youthful while achieving more stable and longer-term growth that will eventually become the backbone of Chinese African research.”

As for 2021, the opening year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Prof. Liu briefed delegates on the overall goals and concrete measures for the development of IASZNU in the next five years, including efforts to establish first-class research disciplines and think tanks. He also hopes that under the guidance of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, domestic academic circles and relevant departments will jointly raise awareness and promote the establishment of the discipline of African studies. (By Guo Tingting, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)