The 15^th China Lecture kicked off on June 6, 2023 in South Africa with the theme “Poverty Alleviation and Governance”. The event was hosted by China-Africa Institute (CAI) with the support of the Consulate-General of the people's republic of China in Cape Town and the National School of Government (NSG), South Africa. It is aimed to present Chinese wisdom, Chinese solution and Chinese experience to African politicians, scholars of thinks tanks and African media, with a focus on topics such as economic growth, poverty alleviation and China-Africa cooperation in the new era. It is the first time China Lecture been held in Africa since CAI started its “three lectures” (namely The Africa Lecture, The China Lecture and The Ambassador Lecture).

Cai Fang is delivering speech at the lecture in Cape Town

At the first event of the lecture which was held on June 6, 2023 in Cape Town, professor Cai Fang, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), former president of CAI, and Chief Expert of National Think Tank at CASS gave a lecture on the topic of Chinese economic development. The event was presided over by Consul-General You Wenze and attended by more than 60 representatives from South African National Assembly and National Council of Provinces as well as government officials of Western Cape Province.

Consul-General You Wenze is presiding over the lecture

Professor Cai Fang said, "This year saw a good start of the Chinese economy. I believe that as China steadily unleashes the dynamism and potential of its economy, it will inject confidence and strength for world economy recovery and bring more development opportunities for South Africa and other African countries."

"Thanks for the opportunity to have a face-to-face communication with Chinese experts. It helps South Africa people better understand the achievements of Chinese governance, and promote exchanges and mutual learning among developing countries, so that we could make contributions for global peace and development in such a world of profound changes," said Mr. Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli, the Deputy Speaker of National Assembly of the Republic of South Africa.

"This kind of high-quality people-to-people exchanges feature lectures given by Chinese experts. It will offer valuable Intellectual support for China and Africa to foster the mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and work together to tackle common challenges, and therefore help China-Africa friendship make steady improvement," said Sylvia Lucas, Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces of South Africa.

Wu Guobao is delivering speech at the lecture in Pretoria, South Africa

Another event of the 15^th China Lecture was held in Pretoria, South Africa on June 8, 2023 with Professor Cai Gang and Dr. Wu Guobao, professor of Rural Development Institute and the director of Center for Poverty Studies at CASS giving lectures on the topic of Chinese economic development and Chinese alleviation.

Busani Ngcaweni, principal of the National School of Government (NSG), South Africa

Prof. Busani Ngcaweni, principal of the National School of Government (NSG), South Africa presided over the event which was attended online and offline by more than 400 people from seven African countries including South Africa and Kenya. Cai Fang briefed on the features and Chinese economic development and its contributions to world economy. Wu Guobao talked through the history and significance of Chinese poverty alleviation. In the Q & A session, the two speakers had a discussion with online participants on topics such as the building of leadership, inclusive development, energy structure transformation, China-Africa cooperation in International capacity.

African scholars and government officials spoke highly of China’s efforts in poverty alleviation and economic development. They noted that China’s achievement is a miracle of leadership building by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The exploration of Chinese modernization is not only a achievement of the Chinese people, but also has global significance. China's experience, solutions and wisdom can offer inspiration for African countries in seeking of their own development.

A delegation of CAI stayed in South Africa from June 5 to June 9, 2023, paying visit to South African think tanks and holding talks on people-to-people exchanges between Africa and China. Members of the delegation includes Zhou Yunfan, vice-president of the CAI, Ma Jun, director of the Division of International Exchanges of the CAI, Dr. Deng Yanting, deputy director of the Division of Security Studies of CAI and Jia Peng, associate research fellow of the Institute for Population and Labor Economics, CASS.

On June 5, 2023, the delegation visited the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and held talks with professor Anthony Black on carrying out joint researches on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Africa economic growth in the post-pandemic era.

On June 7, 2023, the delegation visited the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria, and held talks with professor Sarah Mosoetsa, CEO of HSRC on strengthening strategic cooperation between the two sides.

On June 8, 2023, the delegation visited the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and held talks with professor Sehaam Khan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UJ, professor Kammila Naidoo, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, UJ, and other African experts, covering topics such as joint researches and overseas visit study.

The 15^th China Lecture will also take place in Tanzania and Ethiopia following the events in South Africa.