Deputy Director-General of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies (IWAAS), Prof. Wang Xiaoming, has said the China-Africa institute, which is a national and international intellectual hub for African studies based in Beijing, is committed to providing intellectual support for China’s cooperation with African countries and building a comprehensive strategic China-Africa partnership for the future and a stronger China-Africa community.
On a blog post in Nigeria News today
,It was reported that the don spoke at the 17th China-Africa lecture entitled “Chinese modernization and the development of Africa.” It was held at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Other distinguished speakers at the lecture included Associate Prof. Huang Juan (Deputy Dean, School of Government of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS)) and Zhao Yating (Assistant Research Fellow of IWAAS, CASS, and the China-Africa Institute).
The Chief Guest Speaker at the lecture, Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China, Ms. Yan Yuqing, said China has a lot to offer Africa and Nigeria in areas of educational exchanges, health care development, capacity building, and social economic development. According to her, Chinese modernization is common prosperity for all, adding that ‘we not only make the “cake” bigger but also share it evenly’.
Yuqing highlighted the five characteristics of Chinese modernization, which are a huge population, common prosperity, material and cultural advancement, harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development.
Research Fellow and Director of the Department of International Commodities at the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), Prof. Wang Yongzhong, observed in his lecture that China has made tremendous progress with its economy due to its transformation of the agricultural sector into an export-oriented model.
Yongzhong , who is also of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and a PhD Supervisor at University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
(UCASS) noted that Chinese gradual, incremental, and comprehensive reforms driven by the socialist market economy have been strategic to the modernization of the country. He shared Chinese experience for African development, which includes job training, household savings, gradual reforms in enterprises, a favorable business environment, government-led infrastructure construction and investments, and stable micro- and macro-economic policies.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, UNILAG, Prof. Ilupeju Akanbi Mudasiru, expressed optimism that the discourse would facilitate engagements and capacity building for scholars and students.
Deputy Director, Confucius Institute at UNILAG, and Research Fellow at the China-Africa Institute, Dr. Adetoro Banwo, noted that Chinese modernization has evolved through a responsive people-oriented government driven through science and technology to impact the people.
The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, who described the Chinese socialist system as unique, said they have a passion for development and change.