China held a promotional event on Friday in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the upcoming Fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.
Themed "China and Africa: Together Toward Modernization," the expo is scheduled to take place in Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan Province, from June 12 to 15.
At Friday's event, a promotional video highlighting the economic and cultural ties between China and Africa, particularly the connections Changsha has forged with African countries, drew significant attention from the audience.
In his keynote speech, Qiu Zhongyi, commercial counsellor at the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, noted that under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders, China and South Africa have continued to deepen their economic and trade cooperation. He highlighted that South Africa will once again serve as the guest country of honor at the upcoming Expo -- an opportunity that will further promote the in-depth integration of the two countries' industrial, supply, and value chains.
To date, more than 12,000 participants from 44 African countries and six international organizations have registered for the event, setting new records in both scale and international participation.
China holds promotional event in Johannesburg for upcoming China-Africa Trade Expo
Russia reported on Tuesday that its forces hit several Ukrainian military targets, took control of a settlement in the Kharkov region in the past 24 hours, while Ukraine on the same day claimed to have downed over 1,000 Russian drones.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in its daily report that over the past day, Russian forces had launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian military industrial enterprises producing various types of missiles and components, as well as military airfields, using long-range air-based and land-based high-precision weapons and drones. All designated facilities were hit. Moreover, the Russian air defense systems shot down 10 guided-missile bombs and 259 fixed-wing drones.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian forces engaged in a total of 168 battles with Russia in the past day, with Ukrainian forces striking Russian personnel and equipment concentration areas, drone control points, and command and observation posts, shooting down 1,023 drones.
In addition, the Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence reported on Tuesday that its unmanned systems forces destroyed a Russian Zircon hypersonic missile launcher and two missiles of the same type in Crimea that day.
The Ukrainian air force reported on Tuesday that the Russian army launched one of the largest drone attacks since the start of the conflict. On that day alone, the Russian army deployed over 550 drones to carry out the attack. Furthermore, from 18:00 on Monday, to 18:00 on Tuesday, the Russian army had already used nearly 1,000 drones of various models to strike Ukrainian targets.
Russia claims hitting military targets, Ukraine reports downing Russian drones
