The Enlarged Meeting of the Steering Committee of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program Held in Beijing

fmprc.gov.cn

On March 6, 2018, the enlarged meeting of the Steering Committee of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program was held in Beijing. Secretary General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Director of the Steering Committee of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program and Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Dai Bing chaired the meeting. He introduced the current situation in Africa and China's work toward Africa. About 60 people attended the meeting, including principal of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, and heads, experts and scholars from member units of the Steering Committee of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program as well as from 30 domestic research institutes of African studies.

The meeting summarized the implementation progress of the annual project of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program in 2017 and mapped out the implementation schemes in 2018. The meeting stressed that centering closely on implementing the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program in 2018 should be carried out in line with the central task of well hosting the FOCAC Beijing Summit. It is hoped that relevant academic institutes, experts and scholars can give play to their own advantages, fully participate in various activities of the China-Africa Joint Research and Exchange Program, actively provide constructive suggestions for well holding the FOCAC Beijing Summit, conduct public diplomacy [JB emphasis] on their own initiative, and pool the wisdom and efforts of everyone, in a bid to contribute to the success of the Summit.