China News Service, Hangzhou, October 30 (Zhang Bin) The Zhejiang Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference in Hangzhou on the 30th to introduce that the 2026 China-Africa Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum) will open in Yiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang on November 7.
This year coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa and the "Year of Cultural Exchanges between China and Africa". The forum, with the theme of "Economic and Trade Prosperity, Cultural Mutual Learning, Win-Win Partners, and People-to-People Connect", will consist of 1 main forum, 7 parallel meetings and 5 supporting activities. More than 400 guests from more than 30 countries and regions will participate.
He Guoqiang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Zhejiang Provincial Government and Spokesperson of the Provincial Government, said that Zhejiang has always regarded serving the overall interests of the country’s work with Africa as an important political responsibility. From January to September this year, Zhejiang's imports and exports to Africa reached 402.59 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), an increase of 20.1%. Yiwu International Trade City has launched overseas markets in Angola and Tanzania, and specialty products such as African coffee and avocado are entering the Zhejiang market along the "zero-tariff fast lane".
Shuai Xielang, deputy secretary and director of the Party Leadership Group of the Foreign Affairs Office of Zhejiang Province, said that Zhejiang regards the forum as the main local position for implementing the "Ten Partnership Actions" of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. In the next step, Zhejiang will focus on zero tariffs with Africa, focus on deepening cooperation in green economy, cross-border e-commerce, new energy, etc., and transform policy dividends into a visible list of economic and trade cooperation.
This forum is held in Yiwu for the first time, aiming to let the market become the protagonist. Yu Jiamu, deputy mayor of Jinhua City, introduced at the press conference that the African market is Jinhua’s largest emerging export market. From January to September this year, Jinhua's imports and exports to Africa amounted to 161.41 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%, accounting for 10.3% of the country's total trade volume with Africa. Currently, Jinhua has established sister cities with 20 African cities, and supports Jinhua Vocational and Technical University and other universities to deeply participate in national projects such as Luban Workshop.
In terms of industrial and commercial docking, Yan Jia, vice president and spokesperson of the Zhejiang Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that since this year, the Zhejiang Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade has held four "Golden Trade Global" supply and procurement matchmaking meetings, and the amount of intended cooperation reached exceeded 700 million yuan. During the forum, the "Compliance Guidelines for China's Comprehensive Zero Tariff Policy with Africa" will also be released, and hundreds of real business application scenarios will be launched to help enterprises enjoy the benefits.
People-to-people and cultural exchanges are also the highlight of this forum. Li Xinfang, deputy director and spokesperson of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, introduced that the China-Africa Cultural Silk Road Exchange Month will be held concurrently under the framework of "5+2". China will hold an African woodcarving art exhibition in China, inviting 28 woodcarving artists from five African countries to work with inheritors of Zhejiang's intangible cultural heritage skills to create joint works; in Africa, the Zhejiang Wu Opera Art Research Institute will visit Lesotho, Zimbabwe and other countries to perform.
Zhang Jianzhen, Vice President of Zhejiang Normal University, said that the university has been communicating and cooperating with Africa for nearly 40 years and has trained a large number of China-Africa friendship envoys. On November 6, the forum will hold the 15th China-Africa Think Tank Forum, with the theme of "open cooperation, mutual learning and development, and shared missions", and release the "China and Africa Work Together to Implement the Action Declaration of Modern Think Tanks in the Global South" and other results.
In addition, this forum and concurrent activities will focus on releasing and displaying 21 important results of China-Africa cooperation. Among them, the main forum will release the China-Africa trade digital mutual trust verification platform, the "2026 Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility Report in Africa", etc., and focus on signing a number of cooperation projects involving import and export trade, overseas investment and other fields. During the forum, supporting activities such as the "Qiaozifang" achievements exhibition and the intangible cultural heritage market will also be held to showcase and sell "African goods" and "Zhejiang boutiques".
