The Center for African Studies is a country and regional studies center registered with the Ministry of Education of China, established in 2017. The center’s development goal is to build an information and communication platform for China-Africa cooperation and exchanges, guided by the Belt and Road Initiative and adhering to the principle of "strengthening China-Africa friendship and serving China-Africa cooperation."
The center actively engages in the development of a team of African studies researchers, initially forming a multidisciplinary collaborative research structure that spans senior, mid-career, and young scholars. It is led by two professors who have been awarded the French Palmes Académiques: Professor Liu Heping, who has extensive experience in Africa and a strong tradition in Sino-African academic translation, and Professor Wang Xiuli, who has deep expertise in the theory and practice of linguistic exchange and language contact between China and Africa. The team also includes young professors such as Professor Xu Ming and Professor Liu Yuning, who serve as doctoral advisors for African studies. Additionally, young scholars including Li Yan, Liu Juanjuan, Hu Xiaoqin, Guo Yuyuan, Kang Naixin, Wang Lan, and Li Huang collaborate on research, each with their own focus and expertise in the study of African countries.
Furthermore, the center maintains long-term collaborations with international scholars, such as professors from Algeria and young researchers from the University of Benin. It also has close ties and exchanges with academic institutions both domestically and internationally, including the World Sinology Center, the Chinese Academy of African Studies, the Editorial Department of West Asia and Africa, the School of African Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Editorial Department of the Journal of Chinese African Studies, Jeune Afrique, World Affairs Press, the African Research Institute at Zhejiang Normal University, the Center for African Studies at Peking University, the Center for African Studies at Yunnan University, and the Center for African Studies at Yangzhou University. Two researchers from the center have been selected as members of the 10th Council of the Chinese Association of African Studies.
To date, the center has secured three provincial and ministerial-level research projects and has published works in the field of African studies, including Research on Hot Issues in Francophone African Countries, French Agriculture, and Memoirs of a Porcupine.
In terms of talent cultivation, the center leverages both internal and external university resources to offer a graduate program in "French-Speaking Countries and Regions Studies." It invites industry experts from both China and abroad (in agriculture, education, industry, commerce, etc.) to conduct specialized lectures and organizes "1+1" dialogue and learning activities between Chinese and African students. To date, the center has trained numerous graduate students in the field of African studies and produced multiple research papers related to African studies.
In terms of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa, since 2023, the Center for African Studies has participated in hosting nearly 100 senior officials from African countries (including Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, the Central African Republic, Benin, Mali, Burundi, Madagascar, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, etc.) for training programs in China and visits to the university.
