A visitor takes selfies with a staff member at the booth of Uganda during the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, June 28, 2019. The exhibition hall of the expo opened to public on Friday and Saturday. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)

Digital innovation has become a new and emerging area of cooperation between China and Africa, and the two parties will outline specific measures in implementing the cooperation over the next three years, China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

During the China-Africa Internet Development and Cooperation Forum hosted by the State Internet Information Office of China online on Tuesday, Assistant Foreign Minister Deng Li stated that China is willing to work with Africa to formulate and implement the "China-Africa Digital Innovation Partnership Program" as soon as possible.

It is recommended to formulate measures such as strengthening digital infrastructure, developing the digital economy, promoting the integration and development of digital technology and the real economy, carrying out digital education to address a talent bottleneck, enhancing digital inclusiveness and serving ordinary people in Africa to create digital security and enhancing digital governance capabilities.

China and Africa will jointly outline cooperation measures in the digital field for the next three years and include them in the outcome document of the new session of China-Africa Cooperation Forum at the end of this year, pushing ahead bilateral cooperation in the regard, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in a regular briefing.

In the near future, some China-Africa cooperation fiber optic backbone network projects will land in Africa. Starting from September, activities such as a promotion season on e-commerce platforms for African products and China-Africa BeiDou cooperation forum on China's home-grown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System will also be rolled out, according to the ministry.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the beginning of this year that China will step up digital industry cooperation with Africa. With its technological strength, China is prepared to help Africa seize the opportunities of ICT revolution to help build up a digital Africa.

Global Times