On September 5, 2024, Qian Xiaojun, Founder and CEO of IBI, was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit.

During the morning session, President Xi Jinping delivered the keynote speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, announcing that China will elevate its bilateral relations with all African countries to the strategic level. The overall positioning of China-Africa relations will be upgraded to a new era, all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future, with the implementation of ten partnership initiatives to jointly promote modernization.

Key FOCAC leaders and participants included members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee: Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and more. FOCAC African members included heads of state and government from Senegal, Mauritania, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Congo (Brazzaville), among others, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres and AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki. Over 3,200 participants attended the opening ceremony.

In his keynote titled “Jointly Advancing Modernization and Building a Community with a Shared Future”, Xi Jinping highlighted that modernization is the inalienable right of all nations. China and Africa, together representing one-third of the global population, will pursue modernization in partnership, driving global development in the Global South. Xi outlined ten partnership initiatives for modernization:

1. Civilization Exchange: Establish knowledge networks, research centers, and policy exchange platforms.
2. Trade Prosperity: Expand market access, offer preferential policies for African countries, promote e-commerce and “China-Africa Quality Enhancement” initiatives.
3. Industrial Cooperation: Build industrial cooperation zones, empower African SMEs, and launch digital technology centers.
4. Connectivity: Implement infrastructure projects, advance Belt & Road initiatives, and support African Continental Free Trade Area development.
5. Development Cooperation: Implement small-scale livelihood projects, fund China–World Bank partnership initiatives, and support major African sporting events.
6. Health Cooperation: Build China-Africa hospital alliances, deploy medical teams, and invest in pharmaceuticals.
7. Agriculture & Livelihood: Provide agricultural aid, build demonstration zones, and create employment opportunities.
8. Cultural Exchange: Promote vocational education, build engineering and technology institutes, and enhance cultural cooperation.
9. Green Development: Develop clean energy, disaster management, biodiversity protection, and space technology collaboration.
10. Peace & Security: Train military and police personnel, conduct joint exercises, and strengthen regional security initiatives.

Qian Xiaojun attended the summit to represent IBI, a leading B2B e-commerce and industrial internet platform. IBI actively implements its “Platform, Technology, Data” strategy, focusing on the industrial belt + cross-border e-commerce as a third growth curve.

Since 2024, IBI has been expanding its footprint in Africa, including:

• March 2024: Visited the Embassy of Angola in China to explore African cross-border opportunities.
• August 2024: IBI delegation conducted business visits in Angola, signing strategic cooperation agreements in agriculture, machinery, mining, food processing, and more.
• April 2024: IBI CNAUTO participated in the China-Africa developing countries global value chain forum.
• April 2024: Signed a strategic agreement with South Africa Vanmag Mining, covering e-commerce, digital logistics, trade, finance, and industrial cooperation.
• August 2024: Collaborated with Sinotrans to develop the Uganda coffee market, creating efficient channels for African products to enter China.

IBI’s continued expansion in Africa aims to strengthen trade and industrial cooperation between China and Africa, leveraging cross-border e-commerce platforms and industrial internet capabilities to facilitate global business exchange and economic development.