On the afternoon of November 7, the China-Africa Industrial Cooperation Forum was held. It was hosted by the Jinhua Municipal Government and Zhejiang Normal University. The forum is one of the activities of the 2022 Jinhua China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum and part of the China-Africa Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Week.

Representatives from various universities and enterprises including the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, the ESSB KG Eurasia-Africa Consulting Company in Berlin, the Ministry of Commerce, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Academy of African Studies, and the Touchroad Group gathered in the online meeting to exchange ideas on digital economy, industrialization, free trade zones, industrial parks, investment, food security, and e-commerce development.

Since 2018, the Jinhua Municipal Government—in cooperation with Zhejiang Normal University—has hosted the annual Jinhua China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum and the China-Africa Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Week. Last year, with the approval of the State Council, the 2021 China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum was upgraded to a provincial and ministerial level cooperation project. It involves domestic and foreign governments, companies, universities, think tanks, and several media outlets. It has become one of the important platforms for Jinhua, for Zhejiang, and for the whole country to communicate with Africa.

As one of the important sub-forums of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum, the Forum on China-Africa Industrial Cooperation takes industrial collaboration as the focus of its new theme. In combination with “The Forum on China Africa Cooperation—Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024),” the forum focuses on the opportunities, the measures, and the risk prevention potential of industrial cooperation and investment in the China-Africa economic and trade field to deepen the cooperation of the industries in China and Africa. It seeks to boost the transformation and upgrading of China-Africa cooperation, which consists of several factors including the normalization of the prevention and control of the COVID-19, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, closer cooperation between Africa and countries like the United States, Japan, and Russia. The expansion of the scale of digital economic cooperation is also a primary focus.

He Shurong, vice dean of the China-Africa International Business School of Zhejiang Normal University, said that the forum will deepen mutual understanding of the academic, political, and business aspects between China and Africa, and it will reach a further consensus on the development of the Sino-African economy and trade.

Since 2021, Zhejiang Normal University has undertaken the research and development task of the trade index between China and Africa. The index tracks the development of bilateral import and export trade between China and various African countries as a starting point to scientifically monitor the development and friction of Sino-African trade cooperation by establishing a series of quantifiable indexes.

The index will help implement a national trade cooperation strategy with Africa, provide suggestions for market participants to study market dynamics, provide information reference and trend analysis for academic research institutions, and provide the basis for policy adjustment in relevant government departments. It is reported that the trade index of China and Africa will be released at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Jinhua China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum and China-Africa Cultural Cooperation and Exchange Week. (By Luo Yi, translated by Wei Han, edited by Daniel Haws)