Peng Kexin

Between the shores of Dongting Lake and the African Plateau, a cooperation path with economy and trade as the link and innovation as the engine is extending.

Since the successful holding of the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in 2019, Hunan has focused on building a long-term mechanism for economic and trade cooperation with Africa and actively explored the formation of a "Hunan model" of China's local economic and trade cooperation with Africa.

As the first local economic and trade cooperation research institution in the country, the Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Research Association") has adhered to the Hunan spirit of "worrying about the world and daring to be the first", and has built a cooperation bridge across mountains and seas between China and Africa, writing an innovative chapter in China-Africa economic and trade cooperation from concept to practice, from platform to ecology.

On November 12, 2020, the Hunan Provincial China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association was established.

Panoramic decoding

China-Africa Economic and Trade Index and Blue Book draw a new map of cooperation

From June 12 to 15, the 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo will be grandly held in Changsha.

At this highly anticipated event, the Hunan Provincial Research Association for the Promotion of Economic and Trade Cooperation will release two heavyweight results: the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Index Report (2025)" and the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Blue Book: China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Development Report (2025)", decoding the deep logic of China-Africa cooperation from a quantitative perspective for the first time.

In recent years, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has continued to deepen, and China has maintained its position as Africa's largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years. Against this background, the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Index" came into being. The China-Africa Economic and Trade Index Report is the first comprehensive evaluation system in China that comprehensively evaluates the development trend of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and reflects the progress and effectiveness of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. It provides a strong data reference and decision-making basis for deepening China-Africa cooperation and achieving common development between China and Africa.

The "four-in-one" index system it has built is a highlight, including four major modules: comprehensive development index, balanced development index, industry index and regional index, which fully covers the fields of commodity trade, service trade, foreign direct investment, etc.

The "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Blue Book" presents the development history and future prospects of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation with a broader perspective.

The blue book points out that the Sino-Africa trade model has undergone profound changes, and it has gradually transformed from the past single resource-based trade to diversified, high value-added and technology-intensive directions—

The energy and mineral industries have transformed from one-way input to cooperative development. Chinese companies not only import African resources, but also participate in resource utilization, infrastructure construction and raw material processing, helping Africa extend its industrial chain;

The agricultural and food industry has transformed from single raw materials to deep processing. China has helped Africa promote modern agricultural technology and irrigation facilities to improve African agricultural output, while also providing guarantees for providing higher-quality agricultural products to the Chinese market;

The manufacturing industry has transformed from finished product exports to local production. Chinese companies have established industrial parks and production bases in Africa to produce textile, electronics, building materials and other products on-site, which not only effectively reduces logistics costs, but also accurately meets regional market demand;

In addition, emerging industries of digital economy and technology services have emerged, and the transformation of trade from single traditional transactions to cross-border e-commerce has contributed to the improvement of Internet coverage in Africa and has also allowed China-Africa trade to break through time and space restrictions.

The release of these two achievements is not only a summary of past cooperation, but also a scientific understanding of the future. They provide "telescopes" and "microscopes" for government decision-making, and install "navigation instruments" and "hazard shields" for corporate investment, marking the leap from "perceptual cognition" to "rational analysis" between China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

On April 26, 2024, the Hunan Provincial China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association and the Mali Industrial Management and Planning Bureau signed a memorandum of understanding.

Deep industrial cultivation

The implementation plan for the China-Africa industrial chain cooperation project activates new momentum for cooperation

At the Rwanda-Hunan pepper planting demonstration project base in Gabiro, Rwanda, about 100 hectares, female worker Dang Sila is picking peppers in the farmland with other female workers.

This farmland built by Hunan Grain and Oil Import and Export Group is a typical example of Chinese companies implementing the innovative model of "industry and trade integration" in Africa. After the picking peppers were first processed, they crossed the ocean to the processing plant in Changsha, and finally placed them on the shelves of Chinese supermarkets in the form of finished products.

This industrial chain spanning thousands of miles is connected to the dream of African farmers to increase their income on one end and the taste buds of Chinese consumers on the other, becoming a vivid case of "win-win" cooperation between China and Africa.

At the upcoming promotion activity of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Project Implementation Plan to be held on June 13, the Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association will announce the first batch of "Implementation Plan for the Implementation of China-Africa Industrial Chain Cooperation Projects" to the world, focusing on seven fields such as agriculture, industry, mining, infrastructure, new energy and new technologies, trade, and people's livelihood. It includes 14 physical project implementation plans and 5 implementation guarantee projects implementation plans, mostly adopting the "industry and trade integration" model.

These solutions are like a set of carefully designed "puzzles", which are outlining a new picture of industrial upgrading on the African continent -

In Tanzania, a modern farm of 30,000 to 40,000 acres is being planned to introduce Chinese varieties, agricultural machinery and processing technology to promote the upgrade of the entire chain of sweet potatoes, cashews and tobacco leaves from planting to processing and sales. The former "raw material origin" will become a "food factory".

In the city of Marisicaso, at the junction of Mali, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, an industrial-city fusion area is being nurtured. Developing industries such as textile, papermaking, and food processing in the "123 N" model will create 100,000 jobs after completion, with an annual output value of US$5 billion.

This implementation plan demonstrates the pragmatic spirit of the Research Association's "problem-oriented and demand-driven". It provides a clear cooperation path for China and Africa, which helps promote the implementation of key projects and breakthroughs in key countries, and promotes efficient capital operation. The "Iconic, Small and Beautiful" project accurately matches African needs, striving to become a new highlight of China-Africa cooperation and enhances the depth and breadth of cooperation.

"In the next ten years, these implementation plans are expected to drive industrial investments exceeding one trillion levels. This is not only a set of numbers, but also a strong witness to the depth and breadth of China-Africa cooperation." Xu Xiangping, president of the Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association, said that he believes that as more Chinese companies enter Africa, the innovative cooperation model of "industry and trade integration" will surely inject lasting impetus into building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.

In February 2024, the Hunan Provincial China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association was awarded the 5A-level social organization in Hunan Province.

Service empowerment

The top ten centers build a full-chain ecological system

Against the backdrop of China-Africa cooperation, in the historical opportunity of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Comprehensive Service System" built by the Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association has formed a service matrix covering the entire chain of China-Africa economic and trade, like ten precision-operating gears, jointly driving the giant wheel of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation to break through the waves.

The China-Africa Economic and Trade In-depth Cooperation Research Center is drawing a cooperation blueprint with a strategic perspective. The wisdom of this "idea engine" can be seen in the planning of special economic zones in Africa, in the development plan of green mines, and in the concept of digital infrastructure.

The investment center becomes a "capital bond" and builds a bridge in the wave of cross-border investment and financing. From traditional infrastructure to modern agriculture, from medical and healthcare to new energy development, it is like an "invisible hand", guiding capital to flow to the most promising areas.

The "exhibition and trade stage" built by the exhibition and exhibition center is an extension and expansion of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. Here, African coffee and cocoa meet with Chinese machinery and equipment and electronic products, creating a spark of trade.

The Financial and Taxation Review Center and the Legal Center are like two "guardians", laying a solid "compliance cornerstone" for enterprises to go overseas. Wanshuntong China-Africa Business and Tourism Service Center and Exchange Center for Africa are the "humanities messengers" of China-Africa friendship.

Foreign trade service centers and consulting service centers serve as "market pioneers". The former provides one-stop foreign trade services to smooth the logistics and trade channels; the latter transforms into "intelligent and multi-stars" to customize African market strategies for enterprises and break information barriers.

The China-Africa Economic and Trade Security Service Center takes smart security and overseas interests as a starting point to build a solid security barrier for Chinese-funded institutions and allow the road to cooperation to go steadily and for a long time.

The Pilot Zone for In-depth Economic and Trade Cooperation in China and Africa has been approved by the State Council for more than a year. More than 40 industrial projects have been launched in 16 African countries, covering rubber processing, mining photovoltaics, agricultural mechanization and other fields, driving more than 35,000 African people to increase their income. Behind the pilot zone's big strides in practice is the strong support of the China-Africa comprehensive economic and trade service system. It makes China-Africa cooperation no longer a "single-soldier combat", but forms a synergistic effect of "group army combat", and promotes cooperation from "single-point breakthrough" to "system integration".

"China-Africa Economic and Trade Index Report (2025)".

Intellectual support

Think tanks start a new journey of cooperation

In the deep sea of ​​China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, think tanks are like the driver of cars, slowly promoting cooperation to go deeper and more practical.

At the upcoming China-Africa economic and trade cooperation project implementation plan promotion event, a special initiative, "Initiative for Creating a Think Tank for In-depth Cooperation in China-Africa Economic and Trade", will be unveiled, marking another leap in the field of intellectual support for the Research Association.

This think tank that is highly anticipated is by no means a research institution in the traditional sense.

This think tank is more like a precise "policy weather station". It can not only record historical data, but also predict future "climate change". This dynamic analysis and judgment ability allows decision makers to make arrangements in complex environments in advance.

The value of think tanks lies more in the ability to transform "from data to action". Through quantitative analysis, it can screen out "high matching" cooperation areas, such as new energy mineral development, digital agriculture, etc., and guide capital and technology to give priority investment. This "targeted therapy" thinking makes cooperation less blind and more scientific.

What is more innovative is that the "model gene bank" established by think tanks is transforming successful experience into replicable "cooperation modules". The release of the "Implementation Plan for the Implementation of China-Africa Industrial Chain Cooperation Project" is like providing a set of "cooperation toolbox". African countries can choose adaptive models like "spoke building blocks" based on their own resource endowments and development needs - Tanzania's full agricultural industry chain model and Mali's special economic zone model, etc., will all become classic cases in the "gene bank" for reference and reference by more countries. This concept of "teaching people to fish" has shifted China-Africa cooperation from "project-driven" to "model-driven" and from "blood transfusion" to "blood production".

"China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is not a simple transaction relationship, but a symbiosis and prosperity of development partners." Xu Xiangping said, "We must make think tanks the 'smart heart' of China-Africa cooperation, which shines with the light of reason and flows with the warmth of win-win results."

The Research Association took five years to build a cooperation bridge across mountains and seas between China and Africa. This is a rush across the continent and a promise to the future.

"China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Blue Book: China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Development Report (2025)".

Major Events of Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association

In November 2020, the Hunan China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Research Association was established and was awarded the "Economic and Trade Research Base for Africa" ​​of the Economic and Diplomacy Research Center of Tsinghua University and the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Research Base" of the China Development Institute.

In September 2021, the Second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo hosted the China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum and released the "Collection of China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Cases Plan".

In December 2021, the operation mechanism of "the Secretariat is responsible for overall responsibility, the executive secretary-general's legal person responsibility system, the staff project manager system, and the market-oriented comprehensive service system for economic and trade cooperation with Africa supported by the top ten centers".

In April 2022, he was awarded the Hunan Provincial Social Science Innovation Research Base (China-Africa In-depth Economic and Trade Cooperation).

In July 2022, the research association was renamed "Hunan Province China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association".

The "Research Report on the Issue of "Reform Authorization and Policy Coordination" in Free Trade Pilot Zone" written in October 2022 won the first prize in the special report review of the Hunan Provincial People's Government's Consultant Office.

The application for the China-Africa Technology Trade Measures Research and Evaluation Base in November 2022 was approved.

In December 2022, the establishment of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Zone will be carried out to take the lead in operation.

The State Council’s Interior Publication “National Consultation – Special Issue for Construction of Pilot Zone for Deep Cooperation in China and Africa”, which was compiled in May 2023, was issued.

In June 2023, the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo hosted a high-end seminar on in-depth cooperation between China and Africa; organized a symposium on in-depth cooperation between China-Africa Economic and Trade; and jointly released the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Relations Report 2023" with the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce.

The "Suggestions on Steadily Expanding Institutional Opening and Promoting In-depth Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Africa" ​​reported in September 2023 in cooperation with the Central Committee of the China Democratic League was approved by the leaders of the Party and the state.

The State Council’s Interior Publication “National Consultation – Special Issue of the High-end Symposium on Deep Cooperation of China-Africa Economic and Trade”, which was compiled in October 2023, was issued.

The first "Luban Workshop" lecture hall will be opened in November 2023.

In December 2023, the issuing unit for visa invitation letters for foreigners to come to Hunan was approved.

In January 2024, it was awarded the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Collaborative Innovation Platform" of the China Association for Promoting Industry-Academic-Research Cooperation and won the 2023 China Association for Promoting Industry-Academic-Research Cooperation Promotion Award.

In January 2024, the State Council approved and promulgated the "Overall Plan for the Construction of the Pilot Zone for Deeply Cooperation in China-Africa Economic and Trade", of which 70% of the contents were adopted by the research association's results.

In January 2024, it was named the "Top Ten Golden Scheme" of the 4th Hunan Think Tank.

In February 2024, it was rated as a 5A-level social organization in Hunan Province.

In April 2024, a memorandum of understanding on the construction project of the Mali Sicaso Special Economic Zone was signed with the Industrial Zone Planning and Administration Bureau of the Republic of Mali.

In July 2024, it was rated as a major outward-oriented public platform in Changsha.

In May 2025, it was listed as the fifth "National Advanced Social Organization" nominated by the Hunan Provincial Department of Civil Affairs and the "Two New Working Committee Provincial Benchmark Party Organization" nominated by the Hunan Provincial Department of Commerce.

In June 2025, the 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo hosted the promotion of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Project Implementation Plan, took the lead in compiling the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Blue Book: China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Development Report (2025)" and published it, and the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Index Report (2025)" was released; the "Implementation Plan for the Implementation of China-Africa Industrial Cooperation Projects" and the "China-Africa Economic and Trade Comprehensive Service System" was released; the "Initiative for the Creation of the China-Africa Economic and Trade In-depth Cooperation Think Tank" was released, and the first China-Africa Economic and Trade In-depth Cooperation Think Tank Construction Seminar was held, and the creation of the think tank was fully launched.

(The pictures in this edition are provided by the Hunan Provincial China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Research Association)