Innovation surges in Jingchu, and China Africa cooperation welcomes more opportunities. Technology | Innovation | Opportunities

On July 7th, 2023, the China Africa Innovation Cooperation and Development Forum and the Hubei International Technology Exchange Conference concluded in Wuhan. The theme of this conference is "innovation leads development, cooperation and sharing opportunities", during which a series of activities were held, such as the keynote forum, the "the Belt and Road" science and technology direct train, and the release and promotion of advanced and applicable technologies for China Africa innovation cooperation.

In the passionate wave of summer in Jiangcheng, guests at home and abroad have conducted exchanges and discussions, shared advanced technologies, focused on common development, accelerated the implementation and effectiveness of innovative achievements, and made every effort to promote the construction of a high-level community with a shared future for China and Africa.

Along the banks of the Yangtze River and the East Lake, the wind of innovation is blowing vigorously. China Africa scientific and technological cooperation is showing vitality, and more opportunities are emerging, injecting surging momentum into the development of China Africa.

The technological content of technology exports continues to increase

On July 6th, in the Yangtze River Hall of Wuhan East Lake International Conference Center, there were cheerful African drums on one side and melodious Chu music on the other. Amidst the collision of music and culture between the two places, the China Africa Science and Technology Exchange Summit was held.

Since the dispatch of China's first medical support team to Algeria in 1963, Hubei Province has been a witness to China Africa friendship, a participant in African development, and a builder of the China Africa community with a shared future.

In recent years, the cooperation between Hubei and Africa has kept pace with the times, and the technological content has been continuously improving. Hubei's "flower of science and technology" is bearing fruitful results on African soil.

As a leading enterprise in the global optical communication industry, Changfei Corporation has assisted in the construction of fiber optic networks in Africa and worked to narrow the digital divide by investing in factories and participating in communication network engineering construction. In just over 6 months, Changfei has built South Africa's largest fiber optic cable factory in Durban, breaking the record for the construction of South African fiber optic cable factories at the "Hubei speed".

Renfu Pharmaceutical is a leading enterprise and listed company in Hubei, with over 500 Chinese drug registration approvals and over 130 drugs obtaining drug registration certificates from African countries. As of now, three human welfare pharmaceutical commercial companies have been established in West Africa, and two modern pharmaceutical factories have been invested and built in Mali and Ethiopia in East Africa, all of which have been completed and put into operation.

The total installed capacity of the Kaikai hydropower station in Angola is 2172 megawatts, making it the largest under construction hydropower station in Africa. From feasibility study reports, preliminary design, construction drawing design, to on-site design management during the current construction phase, all technical consulting services are undertaken by Changjiang Design Group.

The Central African National Cultural and Art Center in Congo, aided by the Central South Architectural Design Institute, includes a cultural and artistic center that can accommodate 2000 large theaters and 800 small theaters, as well as the National Academy of Arts. After completion, it will be one of the largest theaters in Africa and the most influential cultural and performing architecture in Central Africa.

Feng Yanfei, Director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology, introduced that in promoting global innovation cooperation, Hubei vigorously implements the innovation driven development strategy, fully leverages its advantages in science and education resources, accelerates the construction of Wuhan's science and technology innovation center with national influence, and strives to build a national science and technology innovation highland; Continuously leveraging the advantages of open innovation, actively building an open oriented scientific and technological innovation cooperation mechanism, and participating in global scientific and technological collaborative innovation. In 2022, Hubei organized 19 international scientific and technological cooperation projects aimed at African countries, making cooperation more active and closer.

The fields of scientific research cooperation continue to expand

At the opening ceremony, 20 international scientific and technological cooperation projects were signed on site, involving fields such as energy, agriculture, medicine, and infrastructure. Nearly half of the projects were led by universities in Hubei.

Wuhan University of Technology has signed contracts with Fayoum University and Aizihar University in Egypt, respectively, to accelerate the transformation of research achievements in solid-state lithium batteries. Egypt is currently vigorously developing clean energy technologies, such as solar and wind power, which have a great demand for energy storage batteries. The team from Wuhan University of Technology has scientific research advantages in advanced energy storage.

The Institute of Oil Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Hubei Lianfeng Overseas Agricultural Development Group Co., Ltd. have respectively signed contracts with the Mozambique Agricultural Research Institute and the Tigre Oil and Bean Producers Association in Ethiopia to carry out collaborative scientific research on variety improvement and cutting-edge agricultural technologies.

At the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Advanced Applicable Technology Release and Promotion Conference, 258 advanced applicable technologies for China Africa innovation cooperation were released to the society, and representatives from the political, business, and academic sectors from 10 African countries participated in the intention to bid. It is understood that these technological achievements are selected nationwide and have good cooperation and application prospects in Africa, covering pollution control, resource and energy utilization, ecological and environmental protection, and other sustainable development technologies. Most of these achievements have completed small-scale, pilot or mass production standards, and can be directly connected to African cooperation or technology transfer.

Hubei University of Technology signed a cooperation agreement with the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center to jointly build a "China Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base" and a "China Africa Science and Technology Innovation and Technology Transfer Demonstration Base", and signed memorandums of cooperation with China Africa Teda Investment Co., Ltd., the Chinese Alliance, the China Africa Partnership Institute of South Africa's Vinda University, the Oromia Tourism Administration of Ethiopia, and the "the Belt and Road" Research Center of the University of Zambia.

At China Railway Bridge Bureau, observe the leading technology of "Wuhan made" bridges; At Dongfeng Company, look at new energy vehicles helping with transformation and upgrading. At the Science and Technology Innovation Jingchu Tour of African Diplomats in China on July 7th, representatives of foreign government agencies and African ambassadors to China visited Hubei enterprises on site, learned about Hubei's achievements in scientific and technological development, and sought opportunities for Sino African cooperation.

Hubei adheres to the empowerment of science and technology, transforming the advantages of being a province with abundant science and education and a province with abundant talent into new advantages for the development of China Africa innovation cooperation, and promoting the continuous extension of China Africa cooperation towards new fields with a global, open and inclusive attitude.

Opportunities emerge and cooperation prospects become brighter

In February 2021, the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center, unveiled in Wuhan, was jointly constructed by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the People's Government of Hubei Province. It is China's first national level international regional cooperation platform named and constructed after the Innovation Cooperation Center. In December 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the People's Government of Hubei Province jointly held the first China Africa Innovation Cooperation Conference. In November 2022, the final of the first China Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was held in Hubei.

At the 2023 Forum on China Africa Innovation Cooperation and Development, the China Africa Innovation Cooperation Center signed a cooperation framework agreement with the South African Agency for Technological Innovation and the African Academy of Sciences to continue strengthening the alignment of scientific and technological innovation strategies. The second China Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was launched simultaneously, which established three major tracks: digital economy and innovation services, circular economy and industrial manufacturing, and big health and modern agriculture. The aim is to further stimulate the innovation and entrepreneurship vitality of China Africa youth, broaden the space for innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation, and cultivate and build a national level platform for innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation between China and Africa youth.

In the series of activities, extensive exchanges were carried out between China and Africa, adding more wisdom and strength to innovation cooperation. The China Africa Language Recognition and Natural Language Processing Innovation Forum focuses on text recognition and natural language processing technologies. Ethiopian Ambassador to China Tafra called on both China and Africa to build a relatively scarce database of African local languages, further promote capacity building projects, deepen cooperation in education and scientific research between China and Africa, and build collaborative research platforms such as partner research institutes.

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed the "the Belt and Road" cooperation document with 52 African countries and the AU Commission. The "the Belt and Road" science and technology direct train has set up links such as technology and achievements display of China Africa innovation cooperation, China Africa exchange report and case sharing, and has built a pragmatic bridge for China Africa science and technology innovation strategy docking and policy communication.

"Welcome African friends present here to bring back these technological and cultural exchange information to Africa. We hope that China and Africa can use technological cooperation as the fulcrum, rely on technological and cultural exchanges, and research and development cooperation to jointly improve the level of scientific and technological development of both sides..." said Yan Xiaohong, Director of the Asia Africa Division of the China Science and Technology Exchange Center.

Those who share the same aspirations do not consider mountains and seas as distant. On the land of Jingchu, innovation is surging and vitality is surging. The people of China and Africa are becoming closer and closer, and cooperation between China and Africa is becoming tighter. A brilliant song of cooperation between China and Africa in the new era is playing.