China-Africa relationship important to financial elites

The China-Africa business relationship has become the inaugural course for students of an international financial program.

Tulane-GSCASS Master of Finance, a financial program co-hosted by the Tulane University of the United States and the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, began its second intake opening ceremony on Saturday.

The program has recruited 15 elite students from various industries who will finish their courses in the next 18 months at both venues culminating in a Masters degree in Finance from Tulane.

Yang Guang, head of the West Asia and Africa Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the China-Africa relationship is important for people to learn the historical, diplomatic and business relationship.

He said Africa's economic development is still at a lower level and what they lack most is basic industries. Meanwhile, the population grows fast so there's a big demand for labor-intensive industries.

"For China, labor-intensive industries are mostly over capacity, so to encourage Chinese companies to transfer its labor-intensive industries to Africa should be a win-win solution for both China and Africa," he said.

While investing in Africa, Chinese businesses should also pay attention to African countries' specific needs. Many don't only want to sell their resources, they also hope for Chinese companies' investment to help processing abilities so that their resources will have more added value and their countries' industrialization and economic development will be boosted.