By: - Professor LI Hongfeng, Dean of the Faculty of African Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University - Mrs YANG Ruoxi, Lecturer in the Faculty of African Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University In collaboration with Mr Héribert‑Label Élisée Adjovi, Specialist in International and Sino‑African Affairs
The year 2026 marks the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries. For seven decades, educational and cultural exchanges have played a central role in China–Africa relations. Initially focused on student exchanges, educational cooperation has gradually expanded to include higher education, vocational training, teacher training, and academic research, becoming an important driver of shared development and closer ties between peoples.
In 1956, the first group of Egyptian students arrived in China, opening the way for educational exchanges between China and African countries. Since then, government scholarships and various cooperation programs have enabled generations of young Africans to pursue studies in China. At the same time, partnerships between higher education institutions have grown considerably, particularly in digital education, health, and agriculture. Over the years, China has also provided vocational training to more than 220,000 people from African countries. These advances demonstrate not only the growing scope of this cooperation but also its tangible contribution to capacity building and Africa’s socio‑economic development.
As China and African countries embark on a new stage of their partnership, two priorities deserve particular attention.
The first is to train the talents and qualified professionals Africa needs to support its economic and social development and to consolidate the foundations of Sino‑African cooperation. Whether in trade, infrastructure, agriculture, or public administration, the development of each sector depends on human resources with solid knowledge and appropriate skills. Sino‑African educational cooperation must therefore be more closely aligned with the national development strategies of African countries, in order to meet their concrete needs and sustainably strengthen their training capacities and skilled workforce.
The second priority is to deepen mutual understanding between Chinese and African peoples. More and more African universities are offering Chinese language courses and Chinese studies programs. In return, Chinese higher education institutions would benefit from giving greater importance to teaching and research on Africa’s history, cultures, languages, and contemporary societies. Mutual understanding cannot be one‑sided: it requires reciprocal commitment, based on knowledge of each other’s realities and respect for the diversity of experiences. Beyond language learning and student exchanges, it is therefore important to multiply opportunities for cooperation between researchers, so that each can confront analyses, share experiences, and enrich knowledge through contact with the other.
These two priorities open up vast prospects for deepening Sino‑African cooperation in education.
First, vocational training should be further developed and more closely linked to employment needs and local industry realities. Joint programs in fields such as e‑commerce and electrical automation show how training can be geared toward skills directly valued in the labor market. This experience deserves to be expanded, particularly by involving local businesses more in program design, practical internships, and trainer training. Special attention should be given to promising sectors such as agro‑processing, manufacturing, and information technology. The success of this cooperation should not only be measured by the number of people trained but also by their ability to access employment, develop skills, and contribute to local economic growth.
Second, joint academic research between Chinese and African institutions must be strengthened. Universities on both sides should be encouraged to develop sustainable research partnerships, conduct more field surveys, publish jointly, and promote knowledge circulation. Food security, environmental protection, and public health are areas where scientific cooperation can provide concrete responses to common challenges. Such an approach would not only produce knowledge useful for public policy and development practices but also better highlight respective social and cultural realities. It would also help promote knowledge production based on dialogue, complementarity of approaches, and the valorization of local experiences.
Third, greater investment is needed in teacher training, taking into account the priorities and needs of African education systems. Cooperation programs should be jointly developed with African partners, paying particular attention to subject training, curriculum design, teaching methods, and mastery of digital tools, especially in the context of the rise of artificial intelligence. The goal is not simply to transfer methods or teaching resources but to strengthen the capacities of local institutions so that they can train, support, and improve their own teachers over the long term. By consolidating these endogenous capacities, educational cooperation can produce lasting effects and help improve teaching quality.
Fourth, digital education must become a more effective lever for sharing quality educational resources. In 2024, China launched the international version of its national smart education platform, offering services in the six official UN languages, including English, French, and Arabic. This initiative opens new perspectives for expanding access to educational resources and fostering exchanges between institutions. Chinese universities could thus make more online courses and learning materials available to their African partners, while ensuring accessibility and adaptation to local contexts. Access to digital resources is only a first step: effective use requires careful selection, adaptation to national curricula, and coherent integration into teaching practices. Close cooperation between Chinese and African teaching teams is therefore essential to transform these resources into genuine learning tools.
Seventy years of educational cooperation have laid a solid foundation for the development of Sino‑African relations. Today, faced with development demands and rapid global transformations, it is essential to give new impetus to this partnership. Training qualified professionals, deepening joint research, strengthening teacher capacities, and sharing digital educational resources more widely are all ways to make education a stronger driver of shared development. By placing the needs of populations, the strengthening of local capacities, and mutual understanding at the heart of their initiatives, China and African countries can build more inclusive, effective, and sustainable educational cooperation, serving the future of their peoples.