On 17 September, the Chinese Embassy in South Africa and the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflections (MISTRA) jointly organized a seminar themed “Reimagining Africa’s Modernization: Leveraging the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Partnerships for Technology and Green Development”. The Embassy’s Minister Qin Zhanpeng, Thandi Moraka, Deputy Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, and Joel Netshitenzhe, Executive Director of MISTRA, attended and delivered addresses.

Minister Qin reviewed the remarkable achievements of FOCAC over its 25-year history, emphasizing that to achieve industrialization and modernization, Africa needs a peaceful and stable development environment. The Global Governance Initiative (GGI) put forward by President Xi Jinping aims to reform and improve global governance so that it more effectively addresses various global challenges. China is ready to work with Africa to explore ways to reform and improve global governance, and to jointly open a bright future of peace and prosperity.

Attendees lauded the 10 partnership actions, zero-tariff policy for 53 African countries, and the GGI proposed by President Xi Jinping. They expressed hopes for continuing to draw upon China's experience in governance and modernization, to inject robust momentum into Africa's development.