15th Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum kicks off in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang

The 15th Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum opens in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov.6, 2026. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

The 15th Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum opened in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province on Nov.6, bringing together experts and scholars to discuss joint efforts of the Global South to achieve modernization.

At the opening session, representatives from Zhejiang Normal University, together with Chinese and foreign guests, jointly released the Think Tank Action Declaration on Advancing Modernization in the Global South Through China-Africa Cooperation. The declaration calls on Chinese and African think tanks to act as interpreters of independently explored development paths, advisors for exchanges on governance experience, practical contributors to deepening mutually beneficial international cooperation, and vigorous promoters of exchanges and mutual learning among world civilizations. Participants also unveiled the China-Africa Consensus on Mutual Learning Between Civilizations.

Under the theme "Openness, Cooperation, Mutual Learning, and Shared Development: China and Africa Joining Hands to Advance Modernization", the forum is hosted by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and co-organized by Zhejiang Normal University, the Jinhua Municipal People's Government and the Ethiopian Policy Research Institute.

Representatives from Zhejiang Normal University, together with Chinese and foreign guests, jointly release the Think Tank Action Declaration on Advancing Modernization in the Global South Through China-Africa Cooperation and the China-Africa Consensus on Mutual Learning Between Civilizations at the opening session of the 15th Meeting of the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov.6, 2026. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

Running for two days, the event draws around 300 participants including government officials, think tank researchers, journal editors, journalists, business representatives, university faculty and students from China and 46 African countries.

In-depth discussions will be carried out on topics including advancing full-scale zero-tariff arrangements and fostering a new landscape for China-Africa industrial and supply-chain cooperation, as well as advancing China-Africa joint modernization efforts through implementation of the four Global Initiatives: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative.