On November 8, the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Economic, Trade and Cultural Cooperation, themed "Exchange and Mutual Learning, Close People-to-People Ties, and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation", opened in Jinhua, located in Southeast China's Zhejiang Province. Qin Boyong, Vice Chairperson of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Executive Vice Chairperson of the Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA), delivered a video address. Other distinguished attendees included Lu Shan, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province; Zhang Yangbin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC); Liu Yuxi, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs; Zhu Chonglie, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Jinhua Municipal Committee; Godius Walter Kahyarara, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport of Tanzania, and Rahmat Allah Mohamed Osman, Permanent Representative of the African Union (AU) to China. The forum attracted over 400 participants from 40 countries and regions, including diplomatic envoys in China, government officials, experts, scholars, and business representatives.
In his speech, Zhang Yangbin emphasized that physical distance cannot separate true friends who remain close despite being thousands of miles apart. He attributed the enduring China-Africa friendship to the exchange of diverse civilizations and friendly people-to-people exchanges. Since the start of the new era, China-Africa practical cooperation has achieved substantial progress, with exchanges across various fields becoming more dynamic than ever before. Exchanges and mutual learning in culture, education, tourism, youth, and media have flourished, further consolidating popular support for the friendship between China and African countries.
Zhang Yangbin highlighted that, during the meeting with foreign guests attending the China International Friendship Conference and Events Marking the 70th Anniversary of the CPAFFC, President Xi Jinping underscored the vital role of people-to-people friendship in advancing world peace and development. President Xi also urged the CPAFFC to leverage its unique position to foster friendships between the Chinese and foreign peoples and to promote practical international cooperation. Building on this guidance, the CPAFFC will steadfastly follow President Xi's instructions and collaborate with friends from participating countries to: build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges, thereby broadening social and popular support for the China-Africa friendship; establish more pathways for practical cooperation to ensure that subnational partnerships and sister-city collaborations bring tangible benefits to African nations; strengthen cultural exchanges to deepen bonds, foster mutual understanding, and pool collective strengths between the Chinese and African peoples; and promote youth friendship to cultivate the next generation of leaders dedicated to the cause of China-Africa friendship. These initiatives, Zhang noted, will inject new momentum and vitality into mutually beneficial cooperation and people-to-people friendship between China and African nations. They will also contribute to the revitalization of the Global South and advance the shared goal of building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
