China-Africa seminar held in Tunisia to explore future partnership prospects

Published: October 12,2024

Tunisian Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Ben Ayed speaks during a seminar themed “China-Africa: Opportunities and Prospects for a Community with a Shared Future for All Times in the New Era” in Tunis, Tunisia, Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)

A seminar on the opportunities and prospects of mutual cooperation between China and Africa was held here on Wednesday.

Themed “China-Africa: Opportunities and Prospects for a Community with a Shared Future for All Times in the New Era” and jointly hosted by the Tunisian Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Tunisia, the seminar was attended by officials, experts, and scholars from Tunisia, China, Algeria, Morocco, and other countries.

During the seminar, Tunisian Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Ben Ayed expressed his confidence in Tunisia’s future collaboration with China and its commitment to “consolidate its partnership” with China. “China is a faithful friend of Tunisia and other African countries. On the basis of mutual respect and benefit, China and Tunisia have established long-term cooperative ties in many fields, including infrastructure, health care, education, sports and high-tech,” he said. Noting that China is the largest developing country investing in Africa, Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wan Li said at the seminar that by the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Africa exceeded 40 billion U.S. dollars.

China has remained Africa’s largest trading partner for the 15th consecutive year, with bilateral trade reaching 282.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, Wan noted. The seminar was a great opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the China-Africa partnership as China has proposed 10 partnership actions for modernization that it will work with Africa to take in the next three years, Wan said. Both China and Africa play a pivotal role in fostering an equitable and orderly multipolar world and in undertaking a strategic mission in advancing a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, he added. 

Xinhua