China will fully implement the China-Africa quality enhancement program, aiming to improve Africa's infrastructure capacities and facilitate agricultural trade cooperation, said the country's top market watchdog on Saturday.
The program was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on Sept 5, as part of 10 partnership actions to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernization.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) held a press conference in Beijing on Saturday to brief on the progress of the program and the construction of standardized agriculture demonstration areas in Africa.
"The China-Africa quality enhancement program aims to carry out assistance and cooperation with Africa in the fields of metrology, standards, certification and accreditation to improve the quality infrastructure of African countries, strengthen the alignment of quality management and standards between China and Africa, and enhance the compatibility of market rules and regulations, so as to effectively reduce the institutional transaction costs of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation," said Pu Chun, deputy director of the SAMR.
The administration said it has begun to implement Chinese standards in Zambia for bulk food and cash crops including wheat, corn, pepper and marigold.
"We will implement 'small and beautiful' projects in food security, food safety, clean energy, and capacity building to help Africa improve farming and food testing as well as generate cleaner energy so as to achieve a higher level of development. We will explore ways to work with African countries on developing technical standards, building testing laboratories, and strengthening product traceability," said Liu Jiannan, head of the International Department of the SAMR.
China to fully implement China-Africa quality enhancement program: official
An official with the World Economic Forum (WEF) has stressed the importance of establishing an adaptable mechanism for dialogue and cooperation that allows the global economy to fully benefit from the development potential of new technologies while managing the associated risks.
Mirek Dusek, one of WEF's managing directors, was speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 WEF Annual Meeting, which commenced in Davos, Switzerland on Monday.
The five-day event has gathered around 3,000 participants from various regions and industries around the world under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age," highlighting the need for greater collaboration against a backdrop of rapid technological advancements and global divisions.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday, Dusek said WEF is monitoring "two big forces" they believe are changing the world economy.
"On one hand, we are living through quite a unique time in terms of technological advancement and innovation. But on the other hand, of course, we are also tracking forces of fragmentation. We are seeing a more competitive geopolitical landscape, shifting value chains and supply chains, and of course, also social polarization in certain societies around the world," he said.
With the current uncertainties in the world, Dusek stressed the importance of building a suitable platform for dialogue, and ensuring that such a mechanisms is adaptable to respond to the various challenges.
"Given the trends that we are seeing in the global economy, in international relations, that function of bridging and dialogue could not be more important. It's very important that we have mechanisms where we can have dialogue and cooperation, and of course, we also need to be on the front foot of thinking, 'Okay, how do we make sure that the collaborative mechanisms are fit for the 21st century?'" he said, adding that this will be one of the focuses of the current Davos meeting.
Dusek also emphasized China's vital role in promoting global economic growth and technological development, describing the country as a "key actor" in helping the world transition to a new era of tech-driven development.
"Everyone understands that we need to be on our front foot, really thinking creatively around how do we relaunch growth that is inclusive, sustainable. But how do we relaunch growth in this new situation for the world economy? And China plays a very important role in that endeavor, on development, on trade, of course, as well. On technology, I mentioned the theme, 'The Intelligent Age'. What we are trying to communicate with that is that there is a huge opportunity around some of these technologies. What is quite special is that it's not only one technology, but we are seeing, at this moment, whole sets of technologies that are going to market and exponentially changing industry and economy. If we have this huge opportunity around these technologies, how do we design [not only] our dialogue mechanisms, but also our collaborative mechanisms to be able to harness these technologies for the benefit of the world economy while taking care of the risks," he said.
WEF official calls for mechanisms to foster dialogue in new tech era, boost world economy