China has made unprecedented economic achievements since reform and opening up. Meanwhile, its theories and strategies of national governance and development are becoming mature. The third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was recently published at home and abroad, marking that China’s governance system and governance capacity modernization construction have reached a new height. Mature theories and achievements in capacity building have ensured China’s remarkable success in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cai Fang, vice president of CASS and president of the China-Africa Institute, at the opening ceremony of the Online Seminar on Building Governance Capacity for South Africa held on July 13.

The seminar, sponsored by the China-Africa Institute, the South Africa National School of Government and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of South Africa, aims to promote the exchange of experience in national governance and economic and social development as well as win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

Sindisiwe Chikunga, deputy minister of Public Service and Administration in South Africa, said that South Africa is currently committed to building itself into a capable state of development and has formulated a medium-term strategic framework in that regard. In this context, the seminar, jointly held by China and South Africa, will help both sides share their experience with effective governance.

The first and second volumes of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China have gained a wide influence in African countries, where a consensus on learning from Chinese experience has been reached. The newly published third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China in both Chinese and English has once again drawn the attention and interest of these countries, including South Africa.

During the seminar, experts and scholars from CASS and the China-Africa Institute discussed such issues as Xi Jinping thought on governance, the Chinese economy and Chinese governance amid the pandemic, China and Africa working together to build a community of shared future for mankind, and China and Africa fighting against the pandemic hand in hand.