On July 7th, the "2021 National Doctoral Forum of African Studies" was co-hosted online by the African Research Center of Wuhan University and Beijing Foreign Studies University. Participants included about 50 experts and doctoral students, who are from renowned universities including Beijing Foreign Studies University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Nanjing University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Guangxi University and Hohai University.

Professor Li Hongfeng, Dean of the School of African Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, delivered the opening speech. Mr. Li explained the purpose of the forum and expressed the appreciation for the support from the experts and doctoral students.

The forum consisted of three sections, including "African Regional and Country Studies", "Africa and Partners" and "African Literature, Language and Culture". The invited doctoral students shared their research results around these three sections. Toma from Peking University (Chad), Tian Siyu from Wuhan University and Zhao Qichen from Beijing Foreign Studies University won the first prize.

The section of "African Regional and Country Studies" was presided over by Professor Wang Zhan from Wuhan University. The doctoral students’ speech covered topics such as healthcare, African politics, ethnic conflicts, industrial revolution and social governance. The "Africa and Partners" and "African Literature, Languages and Cultures" sections were chaired by Professor Li Hongfeng from Beijing Foreign Studies University. In the former section, the doctoral students' speeches covered several topics such as public diplomacy, China-Africa security cooperation, China-Africa education cooperation and investment from emerging developing countries in Africa. In the latter section, the content of doctoral students’ research mainly involved the fields of literature, drama, culture and languages. In the three major sections, Professor Liu Chengfu from Nanjing University, Professor Zheng Lihua from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Professor Zhang Ying from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Associate Professor You Tao from Hohai University, Dr. Xu Liang from Peking University, and Dr. Xie Defu from Guangxi University put forward some questions and gave comments on the reports of the doctoral students one by one. The participating experts and doctors spoke freely, exchanged their views, and conducted a in-depth discussion on the research results.

Professor Wang Zhan from Wuhan University made a summary of the conference. He reviewed the wonderful speeches of all the doctors and the comments of experts, and expressed his expectation for the emerging force of African studies in China. The forum ended successfully in an atmosphere of mutual learning and common exchanges.

(Correspondents: Chen Zhang and Xu Guannan, Translated by Ye Fang, Edited by Yu Shilong)