The third press briefing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is held on September 3, 2024, in Beijing. (Photo by Wu Binbin, Nanfang Daily)
The 8th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as "the conference"), co-organized by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and China's Ministry of Commerce, will be held on Friday in Beijing.
This announcement came at the third press briefing by the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held on Tuesday afternoon. Zhang Shaogang, Vice Chairman of CCPIT, briefed the conference.
According to Zhang, as a critical supporting event of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, over 400 business representatives from more than 40 African countries will be invited to attend the conference. Entrepreneurs from China and Africa will exchange and discuss topics of common concern, build consensus on cooperation, and discuss collaboration plans.
The conference will comprise three sessions: the opening ceremony, special speeches, and the closing ceremony. Chinese and African leaders will deliver speeches on how to enhance the friendship between China and Africa, continuously strengthen cooperation, and put forward expectations and suggestions for future cooperation between China and Africa.
The special speech session will invite Chinese and African entrepreneur representatives to share the successful experience of cooperation between Chinese and African entrepreneurs around the two topics of promoting the integration of industrial and supply chains and driving the development of emerging industries, and explore the cooperation opportunities brought by the new initiatives of the summit.
The conference has received great attention from African countries. According to Zhang, the conference overall has four characteristics.
First, it is of high standard. Chinese and African leaders and heads of relevant Chinese departments will attend the meeting and deliver speeches.
Second, the African side is very enthusiastic in participating. 408 representatives from 48 African countries, including Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia, have signed up to participate.
"It fully demonstrates the strong interest and strong desire of the African business community to strengthen China-Africa economic and trade cooperation," noted Zhang.
Third, the enterprises are highly representative. Enterprises cover traditional industries such as energy and mining, infrastructure, finance and trade, as well as emerging industries such as electronic technology, communication satellites, and biomedicine.
Fourth, events of the conference are highly effective. It has built a platform for the Chinese and African business communities to share experiences, carry out cooperation, and build consensus.
Chinese and African entrepreneurs will use the platform to strengthen exchanges and docking, explore opportunities for trade, investment, and industrial cooperation, and share the dividends of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.
Since its establishment in 2003, the China-Africa Entrepreneurs Conference has been held alternately in China and African countries every three years and has been successfully held seven times so far.
Reporter | Clonde Zhang, Wu Binbin (Nanfang Daily)
Editor | Steven Yuen, Monica Liu, James
