China's defense technologies shine at Africa Aerospace and Defense expo

China's most advanced defense systems, from fighter jets to strategic airlifters, proved one of the biggest attractions of the 13th Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition in Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital, drawing strong interest and talk of future industrial partnerships. The five-day event that concluded on Sunday at Air Force Base Waterkloof under the theme "Africa's Gateway to Defence and Aerospace Collaboration" brought together more than 250 companies from 33 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americans.

Combining a trade exhibition with an air show, the biennial gathering serves as a platform for promoting international collaboration, trade and investment in Africa's aerospace and defense industries with innovation in unmanned systems, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence among the highlights.

For South Africa's trade and industry authorities, the worth of the exhibition is measured in the business it creates, direct access to companies from dozens of countries, and new export and investment openings for the host economy. "What an exhibition like AAD does is bring really the best technologies from around the world and it gives everybody an opportunity to look at what other countries are up to and what they're doing. And I think that it creates an opportunity for component manufacturers in one country to be talking to producers in others. So I think that what the defense exhibition does is give an open platform for anybody in the defense sector from anywhere in the world to be able to showcase their products, to show them off to local countries and the like. And I think that those options are what we look for when particularly countries are starting to procure," said John Steenhuisen, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition of South Africa.

Among the exhibitors drawing the most attention, Chinese defense companies maintained a strong presence at the expo, with industry heavyweights the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO) seeking to deepen international defense exchanges and expand mutually beneficial cooperation.

AVIC showcased a broad portfolio of Chinese aerospace systems, from the J-10CE, the export version of China's J-10 multirole fighter, and the JF-17 Thunder, a lightweight fighter developed jointly with Pakistan, to the Y-20, the country's largest military transport aircraft. Together the three aircraft spanned air combat, strike and heavy-lift logistics, proving a major draw for visitors.

Representatives from South Africa's defense industry say the interest lies less in importing the systems on display than in assembling them locally.

"Everybody knows that the Chinese have got fantastic technologies. So in any way, there are definitely, like I said previously, opportunities and systems and programs that would benefit any country and South Africa could definitely benefit from a partnership with them where we have industrialization, we can manufacture something together, finding the right opportunities for us. So I feel that there's great value in future cooperation that could possibly take place," said Chris Boshoff, CEO of the aerospace business unit of Denel Aerospace, South Africa's largest state-owned defense, security, and aerospace manufacturer.

China's defense technologies shine at Africa Aerospace and Defense expo

An autumn job fair opened in Beijing on Sunday at the China National Convention Center, drawing more than 400 employers with around 20,000 job openings.

Hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, together with multiple government departments, the job fair was designed to better match job seekers with employers in line with the capital's industrial planning and talent needs.

The venue was divided into 11 dedicated zones, covering various sectors, such as next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and biomedicine, to allow job seekers to speak directly with recruiters about job requirements, salaries and benefits.

To improve job matching, the fair also featured a new occupations experience area to show 10 recently developing roles, including robot data collectors and patient companion service providers.

"With the economy grows, especially the development of AI, many new occupations have emerged, for example, the generative AI trainers and data collectors. Some job seekers may not know much about new occupations, so we've brought these new careers here at the job fair to help job seekers better understand the prospects and the current state of these jobs," said Du Yang, director of the Beijing vocational introduction service center.

On site, many vocational skills training institutions cooperated with employers in such areas as AI and elder-friendly services to offer job seekers skills training and employment recommendations as part of a one-stop service to combine skills training, career experience and on-site recruitment.

"I often see this [AI comic drama producer] job mentioned in shorts of video apps, so I'm really interested in the workflow, the tools they use, and the current standard of the industry. I come here to see what the specific training process looks like and where it leads afterward. It helps me gain a further understanding of what the job market will demand in the future," said Yuan Yicheng, a job seeker.

Beyond offline job fair, all job openings from the fair have also been posted on the job service platform of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security's website. Job seekers can search openings and submit resumes online, with related services running through October 20.

Beijing hosts autumn job fair with around 20,000 jobs available