China-Africa economic cooperation to underpin industrial upgrading

Closer China-Africa economic and trade cooperation can help underpin Africa's industrial upgrading and economic transformation by strengthening links between technological progress and workforce development, participants at a high-level roundtable said.

The remarks came at a presidential roundtable recently co-hosted by the African Union Development Agency and China's International Cooperation Center during the United Nations General Assembly's high-level week in New York.

Zhou Hong, chairperson of the center's academic committee and a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said deeper cooperation should help bridge Africa's skills gap and better connect technological advances with industrial needs.

Zhou highlighted industrialization, agricultural modernization and digital transformation as priorities for African countries. Regional integration is also gathering pace, with the African Continental Free Trade Area gaining momentum and the African Union's Agenda 2063's second ten-year implementation plan underway, Zhou added.

Participants said Africa is expected to account for the largest share of the world's new workers over the next two decades, driving demand for digital, technical, industrial and entrepreneurial skills.

To turn that potential into productive capacity, the roundtable seeks to link education and training with enterprises and industries, helping create quality jobs for local workers.

The two institutions announced a long-term coordination and cooperation mechanism to sustain high-level dialogue, conduct research on strategic issues and advance the alignment of development strategies.

Zhou called for closer alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Agenda 2063 and African countries' development strategies, stressing the need for technological advancement, skills development and industrial upgrading to reinforce one another.