The China-Africa Vocational Education Academic Exchanges Seminar 2019 was held in the Ugandan capital Kampala on July 4 and July 5. Vice-President Yang Xiufang and the Secretary of General Party Branch of the School of Civil & Transportation Engineering Zhang Hong of SUCC attended the seminar.

The seminar was sponsored by theMinistry of Education and Sports of Uganda and guided by the Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange Center of the Ministry of Education of China, also co-organized by the Center for African Studies of Peking University, the International Center for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNCESCO, and the Joint Conference on Vocational Education International Cooperation. The event was hosted by the Sunmaker Oil and Gas Institute. Education authorities and 40 vocational colleges from China, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania as well as 16 other Chinese higher vocational colleges attended the seminar.

This seminar discussed and negotiated on the implementation of “the Belt and Road” initiative, educational cooperation within the framework of Forums on China-Africa Cooperation, as well as how to expand the scale of China-Africa skills training cooperation.

The Chinese political counselor stationed in Uganda, Chen Huixin, stated in the opening speech that vocational skills training is one of the key directions of China-Uganda and China-Africa education cooperation. China will actively fulfill its commitment to provide the African youth with vocational skills training in order to help African countries turn demographic dividend into development advantages.

Uganda's State Minister for Higher Education, Muyingo, said that the population of Africa is growing and nearly two thirds are young people. It is necessary to provide high-quality vocational education. Uganda will take vocational education as an engine for socio-economic development and a transformation to provide the young with employment opportunities.

During the two days of the seminar, vocational colleges from China and Africa signed many cooperation agreements in addition to the Kampala Initiative. The Initiative covered many areas including a proposition to construct the China-Africa vocational education community, a consensus on the growth and development of young talents in China and Africa, cooperation and co-construction among institutions, integration of production and education, development of teaching materials and resources, construction of colleges and universities, and building of international communication platforms. The seminar also discussed the establishment of a preparatory committee of China-Africa Vocational Education Cooperation Alliance, which is intended to be built at the beginning of the year 2020.