A Chinese knot installation with the logo of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is seen near the China National Convention Center in Beijing on Sep 2, 2024. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY

In early August, based on my role as a senior research fellow at the reputable Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, China's Zhejiang province, and a former South African diplomat, I had the honor, together with 63 scholars from 50 African countries, of sending a joint letter to President Xi Jinping to express our profound appreciation for his unwavering commitment to China-Africa relations.

The idea of approaching President Xi arose from the growing contact and cooperation between the reputable Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, and its many Chinese partners and its broad interaction with a growing number of universities and like-minded organizations across the African continent and elsewhere.

An important role player and contributor regarding our letter to President Xi was the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum, which was initiated by the institute a number of years ago.

The 13th meeting of CATTF in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March, was an exemplary mechanism for bringing people together. It continued to build on its proud track record in contributing significantly to the consolidation and promotion of enhanced Africa-China friendship, strengthening of diplomatic, economic, people-to-people exchanges and cultural ties, as well as better mutual understanding and policy development.

This was effectively demonstrated by the joint release of an important document titled Africa-China Dar es Salaam Consensus, also referred to as the Consensus Among African and Chinese Think Tanks on Deepening Global Development Cooperation. This commendable document represents a significant and admirable strategic initiative by Chinese and African scholars to deepen exchanges and mutual learning.

Enhanced financial and intellectual support toward African studies conducted by collaborative think tank research projects, media initiatives and people-to-people exchanges can contribute significantly toward carrying forward the spirit of Africa-China friendship and cooperation and open new vistas for the Africa-China relationship.

We as African scholars, therefore, decided to write to President Xi to thank him and congratulate him on all his excellent work on collaborative people-to-people exchanges, think tank research projects, media initiatives and joint events. We also raised the issue of asking for possible expanded support from both China and Africa to endorse and actively participate in the growing think tank, university and media initiatives and to possibly establish additional funding mechanisms, for instance, grants, scholarships and subsidies, for joint activities.

We were particularly delighted and encouraged by the quick and constructive response we received from President Xi on August 27 and I was very privileged to have been, together with fellow African scholars, involved in preparing a response to President Xi's constructive letter.

We, among other things, highlighted the following key elements in our response to President Xi's valued letter:

We expressed our profound appreciation for President Xi's thoughtful communication and unwavering commitment to China-Africa relations, adding that we have observed with great interest China's recent exceptional progress and modernization as well as its commitment to deepening reform and expanding the horizons of Chinese modernization. This together with President Xi's vision of a world strengthened by China's dedication to peace, development, and openness, and anticipated positive impact on the Global South, are truly inspiring to us.

We lauded China's diplomacy with its expanding role and agenda, under the banner of peace, development, win-win cooperation, and increasingly advocating reform of the global governance system and in the process promoting the building of a community with a shared future toward a better world.

We believe that over the past decade, the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been translated from ideas into actions, and has provided effective safeguard for preserving world peace, injected vigorous impetus into promoting global development, and built strong synergy for addressing global challenges. Africa has made the vision of building a community with a shared future its own and that it, in fact, represents a key pillar in the rapidly expanding relations between Africa and China.

Given the growing globalized, uncertain and fragmented world we are living in with all its challenges, we praised President Xi for all his wise words to the effect that "In the face of common challenges, no person or country can remain insulated. The only way out is to work together in harmony with one accord", which were said at the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties Summit in July 2021. As African scholars we strongly associate ourselves with this constructive approach.

President Xi's encouragement to build upon the China-Africa Dar es Salaam Consensus has been most favorably received. As a result, we as African scholars have committed ourselves to intensify our research on the development paths of the Global South, with a focus on China-Africa and South-South cooperation and expressed the hope that through these academic pursuits, we can contribute meaningfully to the high-quality China-Africa community.

We also expressed our strong view that Africa believes that the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in October 2000 initiated a new vital and game-changing phase of Africa and China cooperation to a more comprehensive and strategic level. FOCAC has, in fact, since become a vital and central platform for future friendship and cooperation between Africa and China as reflected by the positive outcomes of the FOCAC in Beijing this year.

We thanked President Xi for his esteemed support which motivates us to further step up our ongoing work and rigorous research and our wish to continue to strive for excellence in our contributions toward the further enhancement of China-Africa relations. We also reaffirmed our dedication to the crucial task of building bridges of comprehension between our nations and peoples.