Foreign Aid Training by the School of Global Education & Development since 2019
The School of Global Education & Development, the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) has actively implemented the agreements made between the scholar delegations of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the international organizations, including the African Union, during their visits to Ethiopia, South Africa and other countries. Under the frameworks such as the “China-Africa Exchange Mechanism on Governance”, “China-Africa Exchange Mechanism on Sustainable Development ” and “China-Africa Exchange Mechanism on Joint Construction of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative”, the School of Global Education & Development has successively undertaken 22 foreign aid training programs from the Ministry of Commerce (including 6 online training programs) and carried out 14 training programs in African countries jointly with the Bureau of International Cooperation, CASS, and China-Africa Institute (including 12 online training programs). A total of 1,131 officials and scholars from all over the world have participated in such training programs. The related work is mainly as follows:
1. Implementing the Three Major China-Africa Exchange Mechanisms for Further Exchanges with African Countries
According to the above three major China-Africa exchange mechanisms, the UCASS has held training seminars on state governance, economic governance, poverty reduction and agricultural development, poverty reduction and sustainable development, industrial cooperation under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, etc. The training activities have received warm responses and support from the South Africa National School of Government, the University of Makoni in Sierra Leone, the Kenya Institute of Administration, the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and other institutions. Moreover, the Chinese embassies and diplomatic envoys in those African countries have been invited to attend their opening and graduation ceremonies. In collaboration with all parties, we have not only established cooperation platforms and mechanisms, but also further deepened our exchanges with African countries on humanities and social sciences.
II. Exchanging Governance Experience, Deepening International Cooperation, and Further Implementing the Sustainable Development Concept
During the training seminar, the third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (English version) was published, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee was held, and China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and other work related to governance were significantly advanced. Through offering training courses such as “Xi Jinping Thought on Governance of China”, “the Development Path with Chinese Characteristics”, “Party Building and Governing Ability of the Communist Party of China”, “Xi Jinping’s concept of Green Development and Sustainable Development”, “Belt and Road Concept and China’s International Development” and “Theory and Practice of Targeted Poverty Alleviation in China”, and using the related contents and articles of the third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (English version) as learning and reading materials, our teachers have interpreted the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the 14th Five-Year Plan and gave a deep and comprehensive introduction on the content, idea and value of the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance.
III. Developing Innovative Training Seminars, Receiving Wide Attention
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we have actively explored various possibilities, overcome difficulties in contact, organization, network application and time difference, and carried out training seminars online, opening new ground for foreign training during the pandemic. Senior envoys of the South Sudan Embassy in China and the South Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ethiopian Embassy in China and the Sierra Leone Embassy in China have also attended the online training seminars at our invitation. The event was highly recognized by the participants. Besides, CCTV, People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and other media have paid high attention and gave full coverage to the training seminars.