This conference is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the People's Government of Hubei Province, with the theme of "innovation leads development, cooperation shares opportunities", and the goal of building a bridge for scientific and technological cooperation and gathering international innovation resources. It aims to explore channels for external communication and communication among units within the province, create a platform for enterprise project docking, build a domestic and international open cooperation and innovation network, and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for China and Africa in the new era.
Representatives of government agencies from African countries such as Algeria and South Africa, ambassadors from African countries such as Tanzania, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to China, representatives of the African Union to China, and other domestic and foreign guests gathered in Jiangcheng to discuss cooperation.
At the opening ceremony, a total of 20 international science and technology cooperation projects were signed, covering advanced technology, modern agriculture, life and health, infrastructure, and international trade university cooperation. This further strengthens Hubei's exchanges in various fields of foreign science and technology, and promotes the deepening and implementation of bilateral cooperation.
To strengthen cooperation between China and Africa, Hubei has a foundation, actions, and platforms.
The friendship between Hubei Province and Africa has a long history. In 1963, China sent its first medical team to Algeria to support Africa, marking the beginning of Hubei's exchanges and cooperation with African countries. Today, Hubei Africa scientific and technological innovation cooperation is booming and has expanded to modern agriculture, education, resources and environment, photoelectric information and other fields.
China has the largest demand for sesame in the world, 60% -70% of which are imported from Africa, while the average output of African sesame is less than one third of China's, said Wang Linhai, sesame special oil team of the Institute of Oil Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, "In Africa, Ethiopia's white sesame is of good quality, and our cooperation in improving varieties will increase the yield of crops and form high-yield and high-quality sesame crops." The Institute of Oil Crops of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has cooperated with Ethiopia for more than five years. This time, it signed a "sesame variety improvement cooperation agreement" with the Tigray Oil Crops and Legumes Producers Association of Ethiopia, which is a win-win sharing between China and Africa, Another manifestation of deepening cooperation.
In February 2021, the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center was unveiled. In August of the same year, five offshore centers for international science and technology cooperation (technology transfer) in Hubei Province were planned and constructed as sub centers of the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center. It is reported that as the only national level international and regional innovation cooperation platform oriented to African countries, the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center signed a cooperation framework agreement with the African Academy of Sciences and the South African Agency for Technological Innovation, and decided to establish a strategic partnership, which will further promote cooperation with Africa in scientific and technological exchanges and technology transfer, and promote the common development of bilateral science, technology, economy, and culture.
The rich resources of science and education are another advantage of Hubei, which contains enormous innovation potential and vitality, creating more opportunities, better conditions, and greater space for China Africa innovation cooperation.
