From June 30 to July 1, 2023, Professor Zhao Shurong, Director of the Center for West African Studies (CWAS) of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), and her delegation were invited to participate in the China-Africa Think Tanks Seminar on Economic and Trade Cooperation hosted by the China-Africa Economic & Trade Research Institute(CAETI) and the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation(CAITEC), Ministry of Commerce(MOFCOM). This seminar was one of the high-end seminars held at the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, with the theme of "Win-win Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Africa in the Context of Changes Unseen in a Century". More than 300 people attended the seminar, including representatives from nine African governments, envoys from Malawi, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone, international organizations, representatives from the Ministry of Commerce of China, Hunan Province, and experts and scholars from think tanks on African studies.

On June 30, Zhao Shurong attended the Roundtable of Think Tanks on China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation and the EAC Regional and Country Studies Seminar. Zhao Shurong made a speech on the theme of "Construction of African Regional and Country Studies and Talent Cultivation": relying on the unique electronic information advantages of the UESTC, the CWAS has built a platform for student cultivation, cultivating students who "know China and love China". The CWAS has created a platform for students to cultivate talents who know, love, and care about China, and to cultivate talents with global competence, innovation, and international vision in country and regional studies.

On July 1, Zhao Shurong attended the main forum of China-Africa Think Tanks Seminar on Economic and Trade Cooperation. The conference gathered famous experts, scholars and think tanks at home and abroad, and released high-level research results on China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. The participants focused on "Quality Development of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Joint Efforts of China and Africa under the Centennial Changes", "Stable Development of China-Africa Industrial and Supply Chain for Win-win Results", contributing wisdom and cohesion to the win-win cooperation between China and Africa in trade and economy.

During the meeting, Zhao Shurong and Edward Boateng, the Phd candidate under Prof. Zhao’s supervision from the National Development and Reform Commission's "Leading Talent Plan for Industrial and Economic Development On-Job Doctoral Program" and the Director General of State Interests and Governance Authority of Ghana, discussed the promotion work related to the 5th Symposium on Social and Economic development in West Africa to be held in Ghana hosted by the CWAS of UESTC.

Introduction to the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Fair

The Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in Changsha from June 29 to July 2, 2023, with the theme of "Common Development for a Shared Future". The Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held 4 major events, 6 high-end forums, 3 high-end seminars, 7 economic and trade matchmaking sessions, and 4 special seminars. The Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo launched a wide collection of cooperation projects for China-Africa participants. The "China-Africa Trade Index" was released for the first time during the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. The index, with a base value of 100 points in 2000, has reached 990.55 points in 2022, showing a rapid and positive development trend and climbing to new heights. During the same period, the value of China's total import and export volume with Africa climbed from less than 100 billion yuan to 1.88 trillion yuan, with a cumulative increase of over 20 times and an average annual growth rate of 17.7%. China has been the largest trading partner of Africa for 14 consecutive years.