Before the outbreak of COVID-19, China-Africa economic and trade cooperation was already facing adjustment in many areas. What are the opportunities and room for adjustment of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation under the pandemic? On August 31, the press conference of "Africa Yellow Book: Africa Development Report NO.23" (hereinafter referred to as the Report), jointly organized by the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Institute of African Studies and Social Sciences Academic Press, focused on this issue.

COVID - 19 outbreak some influence on the Chinese and African economic cooperation, the report said, the two sides have good foundation of cooperation, but need to be under the change of external environment to increase the chance of cooperation from the point of view of innovation development, improving the conditions of cooperation, make both parties are able to through the stable investment cooperation for sustainable economic and social development. Specifically, the report offers the following possible solutions.

Make good use of the platform of the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. We will take the forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2021 as an opportunity to pool the wisdom of all parties and review the progress of the FocAC Beijing Action Plan (2019-2021). To sum up experience in a timely manner, assess and analyze the follow-up of projects that fail to be completed as scheduled, so as to provide support for the effective progress of China-Africa cooperation and enhance the confidence of all parties in carrying out cooperation. At the same time, we should explore mechanisms to turn pressure into driving force, reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on China-Africa economic and trade cooperation through coordination, shorten the period of economic recovery, and try to avoid the impact of inappropriate trade or investment protection policies on relevant parties.

Strengthen effective cooperation between China and Africa in the field of public health. China will continue to promote china-africa cooperation in health and public health through various channels, including the Belt and Road Initiative. Should not only set in outbreak response, accelerate the improvement of public health system, improve the efficiency of the discovery of epidemic diseases and treatment of, through the efficient and accurate information exchange, to prevent the spread of disease, reduce the outbreak of the economic and social widespread impact to win time and again to joint development, the improvement in the vaccine and specific areas such as strengthening mutual cooperation, improve the consumption ability of related medical supplies, We will promote closer people-to-people ties. In the field of public health, China and Africa should also strengthen human resources training and capacity building to enhance their capacity for sustainable development.

We will expand the space for collaborative innovation between Chinese and African industrial development models. In the context of a long period of COVID-19, better conditions will be created for innovation of industrial models such as e-commerce, online education, medical services and Internet finance through China-Africa collaboration. Encourage pilot cooperation between regions, strengthen government actions in areas such as consumer protection, risk prevention and control, and market standards and regulations, so as to reduce possible negative impacts while benefiting from the development of new business models and promote sustainable business development. To foster enterprises in the new economy, encourage enterprises to enhance competitiveness through intellectual cultivation and technological innovation, explore new markets and effectively respond to consumer demand.

We will take active measures to stabilize investor confidence. The pandemic has led to a sharp decline in global investment, with a huge impact on host countries and investors. "Nationalistic" or "protectionist" attitudes towards foreign investment should be avoided as far as possible due to the economic downturn, and a stable environment should be created for investors both in terms of laws and regulations and in practical actions. China and Africa should create new market space through cooperation and avoid simple "cake cutting" redistribution of benefits. In the face of the prolonged impact of the epidemic, in addition to providing financial support such as tax relief and fee reduction for investors, more measures can be explored to attract investors in terms of cross-border flow of people and capital and market opening.

We will make full use of institutional arrangements for economic and trade agreements. The entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement may create a better environment for the coordinated economic development of the African region, but all parties have yet to give full play to the synergistic dividends created by the free trade agreement and the cross-border flow of factors is not efficient enough. In addition to increasing the utilization of bilateral free trade agreements (such as the China-Mauritius Free Trade Agreement), China and Africa can also explore various forms and levels of institutional arrangements. On the one hand, we can speed up the negotiation and signing of agreements that can meet our respective development and cooperation needs. On the other hand, a good interaction and coordination mechanism should be formed through capacity building to provide intellectual and practical support for the upgrading, expansion and innovation of the agreement.