Multi field cooperation between China and Africa continues to 'move towards novelty'

The Forum on China Africa Cooperation - Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) adopted at the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2024 proposes that China is willing to work with Africa to implement the "Ten Partnership Actions for China Africa Cooperation in Modernization" in the next three years, covering ten major areas such as civilization mutual learning, trade prosperity, and industrial chain cooperation.

In recent years, while the scale of trade between China and Africa in traditional industries has continued to expand, cooperation has also extended to industries such as new energy, digital economy, and film and television translation, injecting new vitality into bilateral in-depth cooperation.

Green development: vast prospects for China Africa cooperation

During the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation in 2024, the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone welcomed many African entrepreneurs to visit, and electric vehicles aroused their strong interest. At the Beijing High level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone Innovation Operation Center in the Economic Development Zone, they experienced advanced autonomous driving technology for motor vehicles. At the Xiaomi Gigafactory, they visited and learned about the innovative technological advantages of Xiaomi cars from design to assembly manufacturing.

Zimbabwean entrepreneur Gary Lawrence Rowena admires China's achievements in the development of industries such as electric vehicles after experiencing autonomous driving technology. Xiaomi's super factory left a deep impression on me, and the production process of electric vehicles in China is of high quality, "said Senegalese entrepreneur Murtamed Lo. This visit gave him new inspiration.

Currently, electric vehicles developed and produced by Chinese car companies are increasingly favored by the African market. Data shows that China's exports of new energy vehicles to Africa will increase by 291% year-on-year in 2023. Behind this is the fact that many Chinese car companies have been rooted in the African market for many years. In South Africa, Chinese car company Foton recently released multiple pure electric vehicles, accelerating its layout in the South African pure electric express delivery market with the advantages of short distance efficiency, fast speed, energy conservation and environmental protection.

The cooperation in the field of new energy between China and Africa continues to deepen. As a new energy enterprise, JinkoSolar's photovoltaic modules and energy storage products have been exported to 45 countries in Africa, with its own marketing network and distribution system in most African countries. Qian Jing, Global Vice President of JinkoSolar Energy, introduced that thanks to JinkoSolar's photovoltaic storage technology and products, photovoltaics have achieved parity grid connection in the vast majority of African regions, meaning that photovoltaic electricity prices are lower than local thermal or natural gas power generation costs.

There is still a lot of potential for cooperation in the field of clean energy between China and Africa, and the biggest opportunity comes from the application of photovoltaics and energy storage. The economic viability of photovoltaic storage solutions, weak dependence on the power grid, and Africa's natural advantages in sunlight provide opportunities for future cooperation between China and Africa in the field of clean energy, and the prospects for cooperation between the two sides are very broad, "said Qian Jing.

Green environmental protection has gradually become a popular term in traditional fields such as infrastructure construction. At the construction site of the Kindia Tunnel project of the Maribaya Port to Simandou Railway, the longest tunnel in Guinea, a tunnel axial flow fan developed by a Chinese company has attracted attention. This fan has the characteristics of low noise, low pollution, and high intelligence, making it a powerful tool for purifying tunnel air.

Li Hongjun, the manager of China Railway 18th Bureau Group Pump Industry Co., Ltd., the equipment R&D and manufacturing company, stated that the "Forum on China Africa Cooperation - Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027)" provides many opportunities for deepening cooperation between Chinese and African enterprises. Enterprises will actively participate in relevant actions such as the Trade Prosperity Partnership Action, Industry Chain Cooperation Partnership Action, Green Development Partnership Action, etc., based on their own business, to develop and produce more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products, and promote green development in Africa.

Digital Economy: Discussing Solutions and Sharing Dividends

This is a video conference with multiple telecommunications companies participating, located on one side in Shenzhen, Guangdong and on the other side in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting discussed a cross continental international submarine cable project that is currently under construction. The project called "2Africa" was launched in 2020, jointly initiated by multiple large telecommunications operators around the world, including China. The entire submarine cable line connects Asia, Africa, and Europe, almost circling around Africa.

The relevant person in charge of China Mobile International Limited, a participant in the project, introduced that the submarine cable connects dozens of countries along the way, providing a low latency, high-quality, and low-cost "end-to-end" bandwidth solution for the countries along the way, and helping to promote the development of Africa's digital economy.

With the digital transformation in Africa, the demand for information and communication from local customers is rapidly increasing. In recent years, China and Africa have strengthened cooperation in areas such as information and communication infrastructure, smartphones, mobile payments, e-commerce platforms, and digital transformation, leading to rapid development of the digital economy.

In Africa, Boomplay is a popular music streaming platform among local consumers, with an average of approximately 95 million monthly active users across the platform, of which nearly 80% are young users. In recent years, with the introduction of relevant technologies from Chinese digital platforms such as Tencent Cloud, the problems of network switching, long jitter and latency that once greatly affected user experience have become a thing of the past. Through this platform, African users can achieve functions such as live streaming interaction and low data consumption.

Africa is a vibrant place of innovation. Through Tencent Cloud's years of accumulated experience in industrial digitization, we hope to meet local market demands while collaborating with more local enterprises, institutions, and organizations to use digital technology to support Africa's economic and social development and create greater growth opportunities, "said Sun Chang, General Manager of Tencent Cloud Europe.

To better seize the opportunities for digital, networked, and intelligent development in Africa, China and Africa are jointly discussing digital cooperation plans and sharing the dividends of the digital economy. At the China Africa Digital Cooperation Forum held in July this year, China and 26 African government departments jointly released the "Action Plan for the Development of China Africa Digital Cooperation", proposing that China and Africa jointly promote cooperation in six major areas: digital policies, digital infrastructure, digital innovation, digital transformation, digital security, and digital capabilities. The Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation proposes to jointly establish a China Africa Digital Technology Cooperation Center to promote the construction of 20 digital infrastructure and digital transformation demonstration projects by Chinese enterprises in Africa.

Former Vice Chairman of the African Union Commission, Erastas Mwancha, stated that China's promotion of China Africa connectivity through digital infrastructure construction will help to continue changing the face of Africa and improve the lives of African people.

Film and Television Exchange: Promoting Resonance and Cultivating Friendship

A happy grass, planting hope and harvesting friendship. "Recently, the TV drama" Happy Grass "was broadcasted on CCTV-1, arousing people's attention to the story of the Chinese mushroom grass technology team's struggle overseas. The drama is based on Lin Zhanxi, the inventor of Chinese mushroom technology, and is jointly produced by CCTV, Wuzhou Communication Center, Perfect World Film and Television, and others. For decades, China's mushroom grass technology has been implemented in multiple African countries, becoming the "wealth grass" and "happiness grass" for local people.

In recent years, with more and more Chinese realism themed TV dramas being broadcasted in Africa, more African people have felt the driving force conveyed by Chinese TV dramas. For example, "Shanhaiqing" has been translated into over 20 languages, including Swahili and French, and broadcasted in multiple African countries. When broadcast in Comoros, the local media once commented that the self strengthening Chinese in the play encouraged Comorian youth to fight against poverty. In July of this year, the TV drama "Welcome to Maile Village", which tells the story of China's foreign aid medical team, appeared on Kenyan Citizen Television, Tanzania Zanzibar Television, and other channels. Local audiences gave positive feedback. A Kenyan netizen said, "As a Kenyan who speaks Chinese, this drama presents two worlds that I love at the same time. I love it so much

In order to make it easier for more African people to watch Chinese movies and TV dramas, some Chinese companies continue to invest. At a company called Sida Times Group in Beijing, voice actors from various parts of Africa translated Chinese TV dramas such as "Flower Thousand Bones" and "Ode to Joy" into local languages such as Swahili and Hausa, and broadcasted them in African countries. These films and TV dramas have become a window for African audiences to understand China. Paula from Gabon is a voice actor and program host for Sida Times Group. She said, "I want African people to understand China's successful experience and its significance for Africa, such as how China protects traditional culture and maintains a harmonious family atmosphere of reunion

In addition to translating Chinese film and television dramas, Sida Times Group is also the executing party of China's aid to Africa "Wancuntong" project. This project is one of the cultural cooperation initiatives proposed by China during the 2015 Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, aiming to provide satellite digital television signals to 10000 villages in Africa. As of December 2023, the "Wancuntong" project has successfully completed construction work in 20 African countries, covering 9512 villages in Africa and directly benefiting over 190000 households.

During the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Sida Times Group reached an intention of in-depth cooperation with several African countries on radio and television digitization and other projects. Pang Xinxing, Chairman of Sida Times Group, stated that Sida Times Group will continue to deeply cultivate the field of digital television in Africa, while expanding into the field of new energy, contributing to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Africa and helping Africa achieve green development.