China and South African have inaugurated a research center to deepen the collaboration between Chinese and African academicians in a broad range of fields including the modernization and the digital transition of Global South countries.
The inauguration ceremony of the China-Africa Institute -- the South Africa China-Africa Research Center also coincided a seminar themed "The Global South Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity", which was held Tuesday at South Africa's National School of Government (NSG) in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital.
Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Peng Jinhui, NSG Acting Principal Phindile Mkwanazi, and Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng jointly unveiled the plaque of the center.
At the inauguration ceremony, Chinese and South African academics and political representatives engaged in in-depth discussions on modernizing the Global South and driving the transformation of digital industry, strengthening shared commitment to cooperation among developing countries.
In her speech, Mkwanazi said the inauguration marks a new starting point for deepening cooperation and translating the center's research into tangible outcomes, adding that the NSG looks forward to further strengthening exchanges and cooperation with its Chinese partners through the center and contributing more to public governance and national development.
"The cooperation and the launch of the China-Africa research center is important to us. The research center is aimed at looking at both sides -- the Chinese and the South African and Africa as a whole -- experience and see what the common things that we can learn from each other. China has managed to improve the livelihoods of their people, so we want to learn from that experience and be able to craft what will work for Africa as a whole, in order to make sure that we get rid of poverty and inequality in our society," she said.
Bongani Mayimele, director of International Relations and Partnerships at the NSG, noted that amid a complex international landscape, it is all the more necessary to strengthen the solidarity among the Global South countries and jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.
"The countries of the Global South need to strengthen cooperation and partnerships for developing cooperation. We need to cooperate more in tackling our own problems such as climate change. There's a need for us to focus on strengthening cooperation on technology, cooperation on artificial intelligence, as well as digital transformation to ensure that the digital divide is narrowed," he said.
Following the inauguration ceremony, participating experts and scholars held discussions on topics including modernization among the Global South, exchanges of governance experience between China and Africa, and the development of manufacturing in the era of artificial intelligence.
China-Africa research center inaugurated in South Africa
